City Ventures makes second try to develop Concord Naval Weapons Station

City Ventures wants a second chance to develop up to 16,000 homes in Concord.

The Irvine-based developer has once again thrown its hat in the ring to become master developer for the 2,275-acre former Concord Naval Weapons Station, the San Francisco Business Times reported. 

The announcement in a letter to the city late last month marks a second bite of the apple for City Ventures, which had vied for the job in 2021 but was superseded by Concord First Partners, whose contract was axed by the city in January.

The mixed-use housing project, the largest in the Bay Area, would provide the East Bay with thousands of homes and millions of square feet of schools, offices, shops and restaurants.

Concord is expected to relaunch its third search for a master developer in April. On March 14, the City Council will reconsider its requirement for a project labor agreement and whether to increase the number of homes to make it pencil out for a builder.

This time, it expects to make its selection and negotiate a term sheet for the project in six to nine months. 

City Ventures asked that Concord consider its letter as “a formal renewal of our interest” in becoming master developer for the Concord Naval Weapons Station Concord Reuse Project.”   

The developer said it was the leading solar all-electric builder in the state, and a leader in public-private partnerships to redevelop land throughout California.

It also said City Ventures was committed to a project labor agreement with the Contra Costa County Building Trades Council – a key point of contention in previous negotiations between the city and developers for the job. 

The collapse of negotiations with Concord First Partners — a consortium of Concord-based Discovery Builders owned by the controversial Seeno family, California Commercial and Investment Group and Lewis Group of Companies — marked the second time the city parted ways with a developer.

In 2020, it ended talks with Lennar over a project labor agreement. The Miami-based developer said having to use 100-percent union labor made the project economically infeasible.

For its third try in landing a developer for the city’s north side along the Sacramento River, Concord recommends a hybrid request for quotation. In 2021, three respondents stepped up for master developer: Concord First Partners, City Ventures and Brookfield Properties. 

Concord First Partners and the city would agree on a plan to build 16,000 homes before it was rejected.

The new developer must propose a term sheet — a nonbinding agreement that lays out the basic terms and conditions for the site’s future development.

Upon acceptance by the City Council, the developer would be required to “finance and work with the city to draft a Specific Plan, prepare an Environmental Impact Report, and help negotiate the Economic Development Conveyance of the land with the U.S. Navy, while investing significant resources into infrastructure at the site.

“The master developer will be required to spend tens of millions of dollars on project and land use planning and hundreds of millions of dollars on critical infrastructure and related improvements over the course of the 30 to 40 year project,” city staff said in a report.

— Dana Bartholomew

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