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Base Summary

Base Property and Historical Use
The Department of Defense Housing Facility (DoDHF) at Novato is located in the southeastern part of the City of Novato in Marin County, California, about 20 miles north of the City of San Francisco. The property covers an area of about 553 acres on two sites that are separated by U.S. Highway 101. The Air Force utilized the property from the early 1940s until 1974. After Hamilton Air Force Base was decommissioned, the Navy took ownership of housing and community services to form DoDHF Novato and the Army took over the runway and associated structures to form Hamilton Army Airfield. The 311-acre Main Site is located on the east side of U.S. Highway 101 and contained military family housing, a Commissary, a Navy Exchange, an Officers Club, community service areas, a bowling alley, and recreational fields. The 107-acre Rafael Village military family housing site is located on the west side of U.S. Highway 101, about one mile northwest of the Main Site. The 136-acre Spanish Housing area lies adjacent to the Main Site and was formerly part of the Main Site.

Closure date, planned reuses, parcels transferred
The Navy Public Works Center, San Francisco Bay, which included DoDHF Novato, was closed under the authority of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. The housing facilities were closed under the 1993 Round of Closure (BRAC III) on September 30, 1996. The Hamilton Reuse Planning Authority (HRPA) developed a reuse plan for DoDHF Novato in October 1995. This plan addressed reuse of both DoDHF Novato and the adjacent Army Airfield. The Hamilton Army Airfield Reuse Plan proposed adaptive reuse of most of the existing housing and other buildings and retention of the existing land uses.

Remaining disposal work
On September 22, 2011, the Navy assigned Parcel 1A to the Department of Education (DoEd) for ultimate conveyance to the Novato Unified School District for educational use purposes. Parcel 1A is the last remaining parcel at DoDHF Novato. With the assignment of Parcel 1A to DoEd, the Navy has completed all of its property disposal actions at DoDHF Novato.

(Updated 06 October 2011)

Base Overview

  • Novato, California
  • Total Acreage: 554
  • BRAC Year: 1993
  • Closure Date: 26 Sep 1997
  • Action: Closure - 100 percent disposed. Completing BRAC Environmental actions.

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