The Concord City Council has unanimously passed a resolution approving an exclusive agreement to negotiate (EAN) between the city and Brookfield Properties to develop the former Concord Naval Weapons Station project.
The agreement allows for a 120-day initial negotiating period, to allow Brookfield to prepare and propose a term sheet to the city. It also specifies a 24-month period for the developer to complete a specific plan, environmental impact report, and a disposition and development agreement, all of which must be approved by the city.
The agreement requires Brookfield to reimburse the city $250,000 for costs so far accrued, and as a deposit moving forward.
The city also specified it wants Brookfield to refrain from making or soliciting campaign contributions to candidates for city offices or council members running for other offices. That includes associated political action committees supporting or opposing those candidates during the term of the agreement.
If everything goes as planned, the city will seek the approval of the U.S. Navy — still the property owner — when the 24 months are up.
The council will likely meet Nov. 14 for an update on negotiations, council members said Tuesday.
The city selected Brookfield to be the project’s new master developer in August.
The city’s biggest issue
Development of the site has been the city’s biggest issue since the Navy abandoned it in 1999. The city wants to develop the available 2,350 acres into 13,000 units of housing and millions of square feet of commercial space.
About half of the original 5,046-acre site will become a new park in the East Bay Regional Park District named Thurgood Marshall Regional Park — Home of the Port Chicago 50.
Brookfield Properties was the only company to be interviewed by the city to develop the site, after Housing America withdrew its application in August.
The city is requiring the developer to have an executed project labor agreement with Contra Costa County’s Building and Construction Trades Council and be willing to make it available to the public.
This is the third time the city has tried moving forward with a master developer for the former base. A deal with Lennar FivePoint collapsed in March 2020 when Lennar couldn’t reach agreements with local labor unions, one of the city’s conditions.
The city’s agreement with Seeno-owned Concord First Partners fell apart in January when the council rejected CFP’s term sheet after community members widely criticized CFP’s requests to amend the agreement, giving them early property rights and reimbursement of costs should the deal fall through.