Diocese Scraps School Plan in Livermore for Up to 500 Homes

A firm tied to the embattled Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland has pivoted from plans to build a high school in Livermore to developing up to 500 homes.

Adventus, a nonprofit corporation based at the Oakland Diocese, is poised to negotiate a development agreement with the Tri-Valley city to build the homes on 122 acres near 3658 Las Colinas Road, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The City Council voted Monday to authorize negotiating the agreement to allow for medium density residential development.

Part of the site north of I-580 had once been slated to become a new private high school.

In 2005, Adventus entered an agreement with the city to build the school, which is set to expire at the end of the year.

In December, the firm applied to rezone the land to residential, allowing for up to 500 homes, according to the Business Times. Livermore staff expect to create a neighborhood plan.

Adventus and the city would then negotiate community benefits for the project, including trails and park improvements, permanent open space, public infrastructure and more.

If the development agreement is approved and a neighborhood plan created, the church affiliate can apply for a tentative tract map and site plan design, leading to the home development.

Livermore has a state-mandated housing plan of building 4,570 new homes by 2031.

Adventus, incorporated in 1995, was in 2021 led by Paul Bongiovanni, who served as chief financial officer for the Diocese of Oakland until he retired last March, according to state business records and his LinkedIn page.

The Oakland Diocese, which includes Alameda and Contra Costa counties, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2023 because of the cost of lawsuits by victims of child sex abuse by clergy. Last month, the Diocese filed a proposed reorganization plan with the court.

A lawsuit alleges the Diocese shovelled $106 million into a dormant nonprofit fund a month after it declared bankruptcy in order to shield its assets, according to a December court filing reported by the National Catholic Register and NBC Bay Area. The Diocese rejected the claim as “not supported by facts.”

— Dana Bartholomew