The largest development in northern California has already brought benefits to people, habitat, and wildlife (with many more benefits to come in the future). And not long ago, it took a fight led by Save Mount Diablo to make sure this wonderful opportunity didn’t turn into a complete disaster.

A Project 20 Years in the Making

Twenty Years of Work

Twenty years after we began our work on the Concord Naval Weapons Station area reuse plan, changes to this more-than-5,000-acre swath of land between Concord and Pittsburg south of Highway 4 are happening.

Eventually, more than 12,000 housing units are envisioned, and 69 percent of the area has already or is planned to become protected city parks, greenways, and conservation open space.

None of the large conservation gains won on this project could have happened without the extensive cooperation and collaboration efforts we have engaged in.

2005

In 2005, the Navy approved the closure of the 5,046-acre inland area of the Concord Naval Weapons Station, a landscape comprised of rolling hills, grasslands, and oak woodlands dotted with bunkers and old railroad tracks. This is public land, and the public should benefit from its reuse.

Even before 2005, Save Mount Diablo saw the huge opportunity that this vast area of mostly undeveloped land represented for wildlife habitat protection, outdoor recreational experiences, and other public benefits.

We also recognized that others saw great opportunities of a different sort and that by working together, we all had a better chance of accomplishing our own separate goals and winning much more than would be possible if everyone went it alone.

2007

In 2007, we joined with Concord residents around the Concord Naval Weapons Station, labor unions, interfaith groups, affordable housing advocates, and other environmental organizations to form the Community Coalition for a Sustainable Concord.

Over the next five years, as Concord prepared the area reuse plan, which would be the blueprint for future use of the Concord Naval Weapons Station, this coalition worked to make its vision of a vibrant mix of jobs and affordable homes in walkable neighborhoods surrounded by protected open space become reality.

2012

As a result, when the city adopted the area reuse plan in 2012, more than 3,500 acres of land were designated as parks, greenways, and open space. Much of this would eventually become a new regional park owned and managed by the East Bay Regional Park District.

Affordable housing guidelines were also set, greenway buffers between existing residents and new development would be created, good jobs would be secured, and transit-oriented mixed-use development would be built to capitalize on the North Concord BART station and keep as many cars off the road as possible.

2016

Lennar was chosen for Master Developer for the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.

2019

More than 2,200 acres of land transferred from the US Navy to the National Park Service and then from the National Park Service to the East Bay Regional Park District to create what’s now designated as Thurgood Marshall Regional Park, Concord’s first regional park.

Several hundred more acres would be eventually transferred to the new regional park.

2020

In July, the Board of Directors for the East Bay Regional Park District unanimously approved the final land use plan for the new regional park, which is three times the size of Angel Island and bigger than Tilden, with 27 miles of new trails.

This approval was the necessary step before the first phase of the park can be opened, the area south of Bailey Road.

Lennar backed out of Master Developer position, and the Concord City Council started a new search for a Master Developer.

In August, Albert Seeno III and Discovery Builders filed a lawsuit against the East Bay Regional Park District, delaying the opening of the new regional park.

2021

In February, the Pittsburg City Council unanimously approved the nearby Faria project, which would allow Seeno Discovery Builders to build on top of the ridgeline overlooking the regional park.

We filed a lawsuit challenging Pittsburg’s approval, hoping to push development away from the ridgeline to protect the park.

The East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors unanimously approved a permanent name for Concord’s new regional park: “Thurgood Marshall Regional Park – Home of the Port Chicago 50.”

In June, there were three candidates for the Master Developer position. One of them included Seeno/Discovery Builders.

We began educating the public about Seeno/Discovery Builders’ long history of breaking environmental and other laws and not acting in the public’s best interest. Their business practices have been unethical and illegal.

On August 21, 2021, three Concord city councilmembers tentatively chose Seeno/Discovery Builders and their partners as Master Developer for the massive 2,300-acre Concord reuse project.

This decision meant a project that we had supported up to this point changed course and was headed for disaster. We led a campaign to get things back on track.

What Happened with the 2021 Seeno Decision?

Seeno/Discovery Builders Was the Weakest Choice

A majority of the Concord City Council chose Seeno/Discovery Builders even though

• Seeno/Discovery Builders and their partners were rejected in the previous selection,
• made the weakest presentation,
• were clearly the weakest candidate based on city staff review of qualifications,
• refused to provide required financial information,
• have a long history of unethical and illegal business practices, and
• have filed lawsuits against the city, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the Navy.

More than 90 percent of all public comment received by the Concord City Council clearly asked them not to choose Seeno or their partners.

Save Mount Diablo’s Public Information Campaigns

In 2023, Save Mount Diablo shared a mailer with Concord residents to educate them on the reuse project. Click here to download a copy of the Concord mailer, which is also available below.

In 2024, Save Mount Diablo shared a mailer with Concord residents to inform them about the 1,500-house Faria project, a Seeno/Discovery Builders development that would negatively impact the new Thurgood Marshall Regional Park and be visible from Concord.

Click here to download a copy of the Concord mailer, which is also available below.

Save Mount Diablo has shared 36 newspaper articles and related legal cases about Seeno/Discovery Builders’ often unethical or illegal business practices in emails to our supporters and to Concord residents, and in social media.

They are a public record of Seeno/Discovery Builders’ activities.

For a brief overview, see our summary of the Seeno Way and our official comment letter to the Concord City Council.

What Did They Say?

You can watch the city council meeting in 2021 to see what these councilmembers thought of what the vast majority of the public had to say.

One of the city councilmembers attempted to blame Save Mount Diablo, which for 50 years has worked to protect land around Mount Diablo and which is widely recognized as moderate and pragmatic.

We’ve dramatically expanded Mount Diablo State Park, helped create Lime Ridge Open Space, helped negotiate the deal to create the new Thurgood Marshall Regional Park at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station, and completed a $15 million capital campaign to protect nine properties.

Further, Save Mount Diablo has received national recognition by being awarded renewed accreditation.

To earn this accreditation, Save Mount Diablo provided extensive documentation and was subject to a comprehensive third-party evaluation prior to achieving renewed national accreditation—something only a minority of the country’s nonprofit land trusts have achieved.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission awarded renewed accreditation, signifying Save Mount Diablo’s continued ethical and sound practices.

We also legally challenged the Pittsburg City Council’s approval of Seeno/Discovery Builders’ Faria project, which would allow grading and development on the Los Medanos ridgeline overlooking the weapons station and the new regional park.

One of the councilmembers attempted to suggest that all the controversies predated the current generation of Seenos (they don’t) and invited Albert Seeno III to agree that none of them were actually him.

We disagree. Seeno/Discovery Builders’ history is well-known.

Considering the years of work, the massive scale of this project, and the potential for the public to greatly benefit or be irrevocably harmed by it, we place more importance on the business record of the companies responsible for building it and the legal history of its owners and managers.

The three councilmembers cited good labor policies as a reason they chose Seeno/Discovery Builders, but because all three developer candidates had project labor agreements with the Building Trades Council, this justification made no sense.

What Happened Next

After a three-to-two majority of the Concord City Council selected the Seeno/Discovery Builders and their partners as Master Developer in 2021, the City of Concord entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Seeno, Discovery Builders Inc., Lewis Group of Companies, and California Capital Investment Group.

However, on January 28, 2023, after massive public opposition to Seeno/Discovery Builders, the Concord City Council (whose members had changed since the 2021 vote) voted three to two to drop Seeno and let the exclusive negotiating agreement expire.

Victory! Thank you to everyone who emailed, called, or spoke to Concord City Councilmembers about dropping Seeno as the Master Developer of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station. We are extremely grateful for you!

What Does It All Mean?

Everyone who made their voice heard and asked for the Concord City Council to reject Seeno/Discovery Builders and their partners should be proud. You responded to our call to action, and made a clear recommendation.

We need local residents who are committed to making their region a better place and holding decision makers accountable.

We’ll need your help to continue to shape the Concord reuse project to include up to 1,000 acres of city parks and open spaces, be climate smart, be public-transit friendly, and include lots of affordable housing. We can’t do it without you!

What’s Happening Now?

After the agreement with Seeno developers was dropped, Brookfield was eventually chosen as Master Developer of the reuse project.

Between Brookfield, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the City of Concord, several public workshops and tours of the reuse area have been held that let the public see firsthand this usually off-limits area, hear current plans, and offer their opinion on the project.

Unfortunately, in June 2024, a majority of the Contra Costa County Local Agency Formation Commission voted to authorize the last major approvals for the Seeno Faria project.

This approval means that the hills between Concord and Pittsburg may someday be topped by 1,500 houses.

If these houses are built,

• a number of these houses will be visible from all over Central Contra Costa County,
• views will be spoiled, and
• impacts to the new regional park from the houses, like light, noise, and houses literally hanging above the hillslopes park visitors will be walking on, are likely.

As for the reuse project itself, the new federal administration has made projects involving federal land and money a lot more uncertain and less favorable to clean air, protected open space, and sound planning.

No concrete decisions have been made, and it’s unlikely any major plans will be finalized until there’s more certainty and confidence at the federal level.

In the meantime, Save Mount Diablo continues to monitor and engage to make sure this huge project will actually be the world-class game changer we and many others know it can be.

Our hope is that we will be successful in the future by doing what has worked so well for us in the past: collaborating with different stakeholders to accomplish goals that benefit the entire community.