Brookfield and Lendlease show interest in massive Concord project

A trio of developers have now tossed their hats into the ring for the Bay Area’s largest housing project 

New York-based Brookfield Properties and Australia-based Lendlease have followed Irvine-based City Ventures in expressing interest in redeveloping the 2,275-acre former Concord Naval Weapons Station, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The $6 billion mixed-use housing project could provide the East Bay with up to 16,000 homes and millions of square feet of schools, offices, shops and restaurants.

The City of Concord is expected to relaunch its third search for a master developer in April.

This week, the City Council reconsidered its requirement for a project labor agreement and whether to increase the number of homes to make it pencil out for a builder. During a hearing, Guy Bjerke, the city’s director of economic development and base reuse, said other potential candidates have “expressed interest in submitting a response.”

They include Brookfield, a unit of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, which had previously bid on the coveted contract in 2021 but was not selected. The company has hit pause on its $3.5 billion redevelopment of Pier 70 in San Francisco. The company has moved forward with a $2 billion redevelopment of the Stonestown Galleria mall.

Another candidate is Lendlease, which broke ground last summer on a $1 billion office and condo tower at 30 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, now on hold pending permit work.

City Ventures, which had vied for the job in 2021 but was superseded by Concord First Partners, was the first developer to contact the city expressing interest in the latest round of bids.

Bjerke said other developers have put out feelers seeking information about the naval station redevelopment.

They include a consortium of developers made up of Signature Homes, based in Pleasanton; SummerHill Homes, based in San Jose; and Shea Properties, based in Aliso Viejo in Orange County.

Miami-based Lennar, which previously was selected to develop the first 500 acres of the site but fell out of contract with the city in 2020 over a project labor agreement, has contacted the city.

So has Lewis Group of Companies, an Upland-based developer that was among the team of three builders known as Concord First Partners picked for the job in 2021. That consortium fell out of contract with the city earlier this year. 

“Lewis is considering whether to re-enter the new process but has not decided to my knowledge,” Bjerke later told the Business Times.

He said other candidates are likely to step forward in the coming months. “The true test is whether any or all actually submit a response when they come due later this year,” he said.

Concord First Partners had negotiated with the city for two years, saying it was having difficulty making the project pencil out.

But concerns about the consortium’s financial standing, as well as lawsuits involving Discovery Builders that it failed to disclose to the city, caused the deal to collapse in January.

Concord expects to make its selection and complete necessary negotiations over a term sheet for the project in six to nine months.

— Dana Bartholomew