Overview

Adopted by the City Council in January 2012, the Base Reuse Area Plan outlines guiding principles and general land uses for the development of the former Concord Naval Weapons Stations (CNWS). The plan includes setting aside approximately 120 acres for a campus site “capable of accommodating a variety of education, research and cultural uses such as a university or research and development center.”

On August 22, 2018, as a result of the initial specific planning work that had been undertaken, the City Council authorized that the 120 acre Campus District be placed in District B of the Land Use Plan below.  This location provides easy access to the N. Concord / Martinez BART station and Highway 4.  It will be adjacent to the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) near BART, which will be comprised of housing, retail, office and other job generating uses.

According to the adopted Area Plan, the district is intended to be a campus environment with the flexibility to accommodate a range of educational, research and development, cultural, and health care uses.  The uses may also attract and / or support complementary uses in the adjoining Commercial Flex district.  The urban campus will include clusters of buildings focused around public spaces that create comfortable environments for study, discussion, and recreation. The Area Plan envisioned a maximum of 800,000 square feet of commercial floor space (in addition to a four-year campus) or approximately 3.1 million square feet of commercial and campus uses.

Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC)

To assist with evaluating opportunities and options for developing the Campus District, on August 28, 2018, the City Council established a Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) comprised of regional stakeholders with expertise in national higher education trends, campus operations, regional workforce needs, Bay Area industries and economic development.  The appointed members include:

• Dominic Aliano - Councilmember, City of Concord
• Susan Bonilla – Retired Assembly Member; California Director, Council for a Strong America
• Edward Del Beccaro, Senior Managing Director, Transwestern (appointed September 26)
• Greg Feere – Retired CEO, Building Trades Council
• Dr. Glenda Humiston – Vice President, Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Office of the President
• Randell Iwasaki – Executive Director, Contra Costa Transportation Authority
• Sharon Jenkins – Director of Corporate Health & Employer Broker Relations, John Muir Health
• Buck Koonce – Senior Advisor to the Laboratory Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Bob Linscheid – Special Advisor to the President for Economic Development, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• Satinder Malhi – Associate Director of Government and Community Relations, CSU East Bay
• Dr. Nellie Meyer – Superintendent, Mount Diablo Unified School District
• Carlyn Obringer – Mayor, City of Concord
• Victor Tiglao – Diablo Valley College, student representative
• Dr. Peter Wilson – former Dean, CSU East Bay, Concord Campus
• Dr. Fred Wood – Chancellor, Contra Costa Community College District
• Jim Wunderman – President and CEO, Bay Area Council

BRC Visioning Process

The BRC will meet monthly from approximately September 2018 to April 2019 to consider a series of topics related to opportunities to develop the campus district, including:

• Baseline socio-economic and educational attainment information for Concord and the region;
• Draft land use map and the specific planning process for the base to understand how the 120 acres physically fits within the context of the overall project;
• Trends in higher education and examples of innovative new campus development projects;
• Research and development campuses and innovation districts as ways to spur business growth and incubate start ups; and
• Financing, funding models and investment options.

The BRC meeting schedule is noted below.  A printable schedule is available here and the Work Plan is further detailed here.

The BRC will produce a report for Council consideration that recommends options and opportunities, with timelines and next steps.  This document will help create alignment so that moving forward, proposals and opportunities can be evaluated against this framework.

All meetings will be open to the public and facilitated by MIG, a professional consulting firm that specializes in urban design, strategic planning and community facilitation.  

BRC Meeting Schedule

All meetings will begin at 6:00 p.m. and will likely be held at the Concord Senior Center at 2727 Parkside Circle. However, meeting locations may change and the confirmed location will be noted on the LRA and City meeting calendars and the agenda for that meeting. 

The schedule is below, with tentative meeting topics, which are subject to change depending on Committee input and how the visioning process evolves.

• September 20, 2018 – Introduction, baseline information.
• October 18, 2018 – Base specific planning and land use plan, physical context of the Campus District.
• November 15, 2018 – Academic campus design and development.
• December 13, 2018 - Innovation districts and R&D campus design and development.
• January 17, 2019 – Discuss specific institutions to focus on: public, private, hybrid.
• February 21, 2019 – Funding and financing options, outline preferred directions.
• March 21, 2019 – Review draft Campus Vision and Strategy Plan.
• April 18, 2019 – Confirm final plan for Council consideration.
• May 16, 2019 - Tentative, if schedule slips.

BRC Documents

All meeting documents and discussion material will be saved to the LRA document library under a section for the BRC Campus District.  If you wish to receive notifications of BRC meetings, please sign up here.  Final Report for the BRC is located in the LRA document library.  

Campus District Visioning Contact

For information regarding this project, please contact Assistant City Manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa at (925) 671-3150 or Kathleen.Trepa@cityofconcord.org.