Bids on Russell City Will Open Tuesday

Oakland Tribune, Sept. 01, 1967

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Alameda County Supervisors will learn Tuesday whether there are any takers on the Russell City redevelopment area property they are offering to sell for $2,850,000.

The board will open bids on the 200-acre Hayward shoreline property at 11 a.m., hoping to sell the property in one unit to a major industry.

Supervisors are set on $2,850,000 as the minimum price, but also will consider the type of industry, architecture, site development plans and number of jobs to be provided.

A sale at the nearly $3 million price would allow the county to break even financially on the four-year-old project, and would get the land back on the tax rolls.

The county spent $2,442,000 to acquire the 24-block section, an additional $159,373 for redevelopment agency salaries and $78.510 for maintenance and operation—a total investment of $2,788,883.

The proposed sales price averages $14,250 an acre for the four parcels that make up the project area. The largest, a 174-acre section is valued at $2,479,500.

Russell City lies in the center of a 1,330-acre industrial section bounded by the Jackson Freeway, the proposed Shoreline Freeway, San Lorenzo Creek and Southern Pacific Railroad.

About 1,200 people lived in the "shanty town" until the county started buying up the property four years ago.

No bids have been received by the county at this point, but normally, bidding is on a "last minute" basis.

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