This week the City of Concord was set to make a decision on the chosen developer for the Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS). That vote has been delayed while the City investigates a possible violation of the “No Lobbying” clause of the contract award.

The choice had come down to two possible developers, Catellus and Lennar Urban. Catellus alleged that Lennar Urban had improperly lobbied a Concord City Council Member. Catellus Letter to City Manager

You can read more about the issues from these sources:

• SF Business Times – Powerful developer accused of improper lobbying in $6 billion East Bay redevelopment bid
• SFGate.com – Accusation stalls choice of developer for huge Concord project
• Contra Costa Times – Concord: Accusation of back room deals derail naval weapons station decision

It looks like it may be some time before a resolution is reached on the chosen developer.

To read more about the plans for the CNWS click here.

Last night the City Council narrowed the filed of developers down to two. The remaining two firms Lennar Urban and Catellus, were the more attractive master developers.

To read more about the decision check out this article from the SF Business Times…

The redevelopment of the decommissioned Concord Naval Weapons Station is still advancing. This weekend the final three developers are slated to present their plans and to answer questions at a special session of the Concord City Council.

As well, the San Francisco Business Times has published an article with more quotes from the three developers. The individual plans from the developers vary is scope and density. It is interesting to note that one of the developers has plans to create an orchard/farm to be a buffer against some of the existing neighbors.

To follow the progress of the development you can receive updates from http://www.concordreuseproject.org/.

Catellus Development Company will present from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., Lennar Urban from 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. and SunCal Development Company from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m., followed by public comment from 2:45 to 4:15 p.m.

The meeting will be held in the City Council Chamber at Civic Center, 1950 Parkside Drive and will be televised live on Concord Cable TV channels 28 (Comcast), 29 (Astound), and 99 (AT&T), and streamed on the City’s website, www.cityofconcord.org. Videos of the meetings will also be available for viewing the next day from the website.

 

The Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS) Reuse Plan has solicited proposals from three master developers to develop the 5,028 acre site. The CNWS Reuse Project will begin Phase 1 with the development near the North Concord/Martinez BART station. The future phases will fan out from the initial development.

The three developers Catellus, Lennar Urban, and SunCal will be presenting their various proposals to Concord’s City Council on February 10th and 11th. Both meetings will be held in the City Council Chambers at Civic Center, 1950 Parkside Drive. The meetings will also be televised live on Concord Cable TV channels 28 (Comcast), 29 (Astound), and 99 (AT&T), and streamed on the City’s website, www.cityofconcord.org. The developers will have 45 minutes to present their proposals, followed by 1 hour and 15 minutes of questions. The meetings are preliminary in the process and the City Council and staff are not planning on making a final decision at these meetings.

The three developer proposals can be viewed at these links:

• Catellus
• Lennar Urban
• SunCal

A printed copy of all materials can be viewed at the Concord Public Library, 2900 Salvio St.

The proposed plan calls for the construction of almost 12,000 new housing units and 8,000,000 sq. ft. of commercial, industrial, and institutional space. Under the proposed development plan almost 3,300 acres of the inland area will be preserved as parks and open space for public use. All three developers have provided designs that differ from the proposal developed by the City of Concord.

Since the CNWS is adjacent to Dana Estates, the development will likely have an impact on the neighborhood and home values.

Photo Credit: 100_5471 by Greenbelt Alliance used by Creative Commons