El Toro Auction Takes Off, but Bidders Don’t

Marking another milestone in the saga of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the federal government Wednesday began offering the closed Orange County base to developers.

But the first day of the much-anticipated online auction passed without a single offer.

David Haase, a realty officer with the U.S. General Services Administration, which is handling the sale, said potential buyers had not yet registered to place bids.

The auction would set off the transformation of the former base into a sprawling residential and business complex encircling a park, and finally bury plans for turning the base into an international airport.

“From a developer’s perspective, this could a very complex undertaking,” Haase said. “They’ve done all their research, and now they are putting together their [bids] and it is a go or no-go situation....”

Haase said several interested buyers were putting together bidding strategies, including whether to join forces with one another. No one has submitted a bidder application, however, which requires millions of dollars in cash deposits.

There is no deadline for bids, and the federal government may accept offers for as long as it deems necessary. But officials estimate that the four parcels that make up the 3,700-acre former military airfield will be sold by summer. That would further seal the fate of El Toro and end a decade-long battle that had been contested to the last minute.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn appealed to officials to halt the sale and turn El Toro into a commercial airport. Like a similar proposal two years ago, it was rebuffed.

Since the Department of Defense announced the closure of El Toro and a sister base in Tustin in 1993, El Toro has pitted those in south Orange County against others who believe the base should become a commercial airport.

The issue led to several lawsuits and four countywide measures.

Irvine annexed El Toro in 2003 and drafted a redevelopment plan that would turn the base into the Orange County Great Park, a master-planned community of homes, commercial and industrial space and a park system.

El Toro “represents a fabulous large-scale redevelopment opportunity,” said Richard Gollis, a principal at Concord Group, a Newport Beach real estate advisory firm. But developers may be taking extra caution before placing bids, Gollis said, because the land is also fraught with potential risk.

The Navy will continue to conduct environmental cleanup and studies on small tracts.

Navy officials have said the cleanup should not interfere significantly with development plans.

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Four parcels

Federal officials believe the former El Toro Marine base will be sold by summer.

Bid information, by parcel number

Parcel size: 902 acres

Minimum bid: $125 million

Bid increment: $500,000

Parcel size: 1,752 acres; includes 11 acres under lease to Irvine Unified School District until 2016. Twenty-six acres may be excluded for the homeless.

Minimum bid: $220 million

Bid increment: $5 million

Parcel size: 863 acres; 12 acres may be excluded for the homeless.

Minimum bid: $120 million

Bid increment: $500,000

Parcel size: 202 acres

Minimum bid: $60 million

Bid Increment: $500,000

Source: Heritage Fields; General Services Administration