Emeryville’s $70 Million "Bailout"

Subsidies to Developers Will Cost $7,000 per Resident — Three Times that of the Federal Bailout

Edited version of Council Member John Fricke’s Letter to Emeryville Residents
(sent via email on Sept. 28, 2008)

The Bush Administration’s $700 billion bailout of Wall Street has been characterized as the largest government bailout of private enterprise in U.S. history. The bailout will cost about $2,300 per man, woman, and child in our country. That sounds like a lot, but from the perspective of an Emeryville resident, this figure is quite modest.

The Emeryville City Council majority has expressed support for granting tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to developers for a series of projects likely to be approved in the next year or two. By my count, total subsidies for these development projects will reach at least $70 million – $7,000 for each and every man, woman, and child in Emeryville, three times the amount per person of the federal bailout.

Here’s the tally (these numbers are estimates, as the City Council has refused to divulge the actual amounts):

Bay Street Mall Site B ————– $48 million (based on 2006 figures)
30-story hotel, chain department
store, and parking garage slated for site

Public Market Expansion ————- $10 million
Office space, 52,000 square feet
of retail, and up to 340 new
housing units

Transit Center ———— $3-6 million

EmeryStation Triangle ————- $3-6 million

Gateway —————– Unknown

“Upgrade” of Pac & Save to
Safeway —————– Unknown