DeNova Homes to build 135 “entry-level” houses in Antioch

DeNova Homes wants to build 135 entry-level homes in northeast Antioch.

The Concord-based developer has filed plans to build the single-family homes between the top of Vineyard Drive and the railroad tracks, north of East 18th Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported. It would replace an unharvested wine grape vineyard.

The project, dubbed Rancho Meadows, would include 129 market-rate, two-story houses and six affordable, single-story homes with attached granny flats. It would include picnic areas, a dog park and a children’s playground.

The single-story properties will be renter-occupied, low-income units through a partnership with Yellow Roof Foundation, a Concord-based nonprofit affordable housing developer founded by the owners of DeNova Homes.

DeNova bought the 17-acre property in 2022 for $2.1 million, or $123,529 an acre. It includes the vineyard, planted “primarily to prevent the property from appearing unused,” according to a staff report.

The developer has applied to rezone the area to residential, from light industrial and offices. A previous owner wasn’t able to find a viable light industrial or office user, according to the city.

The applicant “realizes that these entry-level homes likely will be occupied by families with

younger children,” the report says, noting the houses face “forward” on each lot to maximize the backyards.

A rendering shows a row of homes in a mix of gray and olive with gables and two-car garages.

DeNova Homes was founded in 1989 by Dave and Lori Sanson, high school sweethearts who married during their senior year at California State University, Chico.

Last year, the developer filed plans under the state builder’s remedy for a 64-unit apartment complex in Sonoma. The state housing loophole allows developers to bypass zoning rules in cities that have failed to certify their state housing plans, provided they meet a 20 percent affordable housing minimum.

Sonoma claimed it wasn’t required to have its housing plan certified by the state, and deemed the builder’s remedy filing invalid. It’s not clear where DeNova’s application stands.

DeNova also built a 65-home subdivision atop a shuttered golf course in Martinez after six years of legal battles and community opposition, according to the Business Times.

— Dana Bartholomew