Concord City Council Picks New Master Developer Of Former Naval Weapons Station Site In Close Vote

CONCORD (BCN) – The Concord City Council on Saturday voted 3-2 to exclusively negotiate with a group of developers, including Seeno Homes, to become master developer for the massive former Concord Naval Weapons Station.

Seeno Companies, Discovery Builders Inc., Lewis Group of Companies, and California Capital Investment Group are the benefactors of Saturday's close vote.

Mayor Tim McGallian, Vice Mayor Dominic Aliano and council member Edi Birsan voted for the Seeno team. Council members Carlyn Obringer and Laura Hoffmeister threw their support behind the team of Sunset Development and Brookfield Properties. Sunset built and maintains interest in much of Bishop Ranch in San Ramon.

Having local developers with ties to local organized labor was key. Concord selected Lennar Five Point as master developer in 2016. The company pulled out of the project in March 2020 when its initial exclusive negotiating agreement expired and its negotiations with local labor unions failed.

The fate of 5,046 acres on the city's northeast side has been one of Concord's biggest issues since the Navy abandoned the area in 1999. The Navy officially designated it as surplus and made Concord the local reuse authority for the site, of which 2,300 acres are targeted for 13,000 units of housing and millions of square feet of commercial space.

The site will also be home to a new 2,540-acre East Bay Regional Park, named Thurgood Marshall Regional Park - Home of the Port Chicago 50, commemorating the nearby Port Chicago tragedy during World War II.