The Concord City Council has signed off on a new million-dollar contract to provide security at the shuttered naval weapons station that is still awaiting redevelopment.
The council in a 4-0 vote Tuesday approved the three-year contract with Guardian Security Agency to provide security guard services at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station. Councilmember Pablo Benavente was absent from the vote.
The site initially opened as a munitions storage facility in 1944, was closed in 1999, and was officially marked for redevelopment by the city of Concord in 2006, but the 12,800-acre property has sat undeveloped for the past 20 years.
The GoMentum Station, which touts itself as the nation’s largest secure facility dedicated to autonomous vehicle testing, has operated at the site since 2016 and necessitated security services there for the past decade.
The City Council, operating as the Local Reuse Authority in charge of the site, has paid Concord-based Guardian Security Agency for the past 10 years to provide security guards at the entry gates at Willow Pass and Bailey roads, but the current contract was set to expire on Aug. 31.
A satisfied customer
The new contract is for $1.05 million for a term ending at the end of June 2029. The council’s staff report said Guardian was chosen among nine bidders for the contract and that the city has been “satisfied with their exceptional responsiveness and customer service” for the past decade.
GoMentum Station, which is overseen by the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and partners with automakers to test their autonomous vehicles, will reimburse the city so there is no impact on Concord’s General Fund for the security services.
The site is still years away from seeing any activity beyond driverless cars, but in May the City Council approved an agreement with the U.S. Navy that will allow New York-based developer Brookfield Properties to move on to the next phase of development, including drafting a specific plan for construction and zoning of various parts of the massive site.
The original master developer, Lennar, pulled out of plans for the site in 2020 after a dispute with labor organizers. Brookfield was chosen by the city in 2023 and the development agreement includes 12,272 units of housing, including about 3,000 affordable units.
City officials said at the May meeting that Brookfield’s specific plan will likely be presented to the council in the summer of 2029, and that the project build-out is expected to span 30 years.
