Base Closure

BACKGROUND

The Department of Defense (DOD) recommended, and the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission confirmed the closure of the Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant (RAAP) and transfer of property by September 2011.  It is located in northern California, six miles northeast of downtown Modesto, at 5300 Claus Road in the limits of the City of Riverbank, Stanislaus County, California. 

The City of Riverbank, five miles northeast of Modesto, has been the home of the Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant (RAAP) and a prominent fixture in the Riverbank community for more than six decades.

THE SITE

Closure of the RAAP has impacted the City of Riverbank, by contributing to the direct loss of several thousand jobs associated with the military mission, plus additional jobs with the loss of business tenants and 122 indirect jobs throughout the community. In its heyday, the facility employed over 3,500. Today, fewer than 80 employess remain as part of the military mission. The increased vacancy rate at the transitioning military installation has added to the blight of the facility and hindered the attraction of new businesses or development in the vicinity. There are 191 structures on site and 700,000 square feet of industrial buildings on the 173-acre site available for reuse.

REUSE PLAN
 
California's rising tide of investments in green businesses indicates that a "green friendly" industrial park, Riverbank's redeveloped RAAP, will be poised to ride a wave of green renovation based on both continuing improvements in energy efficiency and the creation and adoption of clean energy technologies. The existing assets found at the RAAP site, including power, water, hazardous waste permits, rail, etc provide exciting opportunities to replace lost jobs, re-skill workers and renew and sustain scarce resources. The opportunities for this green focus are unlimited.

RAAP at a Glance

• 173-acre industrial site
• 75-acres of undeveloped land
• 191 structures on site
• 700,000 square feet of industrial space
• Extensive internal rail service
• High Bays/Loading Docks
• Hazardous Materials Permits and Facilities
• Low-cost energy
• Extensive Heavy Industrial Equipment
• Enterprise Zone Location

THE FUTURE

The scale of the challenges facing the community of Riverbank is both unprecedented and transformational. The appropriate response is bold in vision and in action. The City has addressed these opportunities and challenges with great care to create a thoughtful redevelopment plan, carefully designed to integrate incentive forms of green manufacturing, R & D support, innovative public-private partnership and a portfolio of strategies meant to spur investment and achieve job creation. To learn more about the opportunities for sustainable innovation at the RAAP contact Debbie Olson at dolson@riverbank.org or 209.863.7157