Future of Massive S.F. Bay Area Housing Project Uncertain Due to Labor Dispute

"A high-stakes dispute between unions and the developer of the Concord Naval Weapons Station is threatening to derail the [San Francisco] Bay Area’s biggest housing project, a 13,000-unit redevelopment of the former military base in Contra Costa County," reports J.K. Dineen.

Building trades unions want all of the project’s construction work done by union members. "The developers said that agreeing to an all-union job site would make the project infeasible, raising construction costs by $542 million and cutting profits from 17% to a loss," reports Dineen.

The planned labor agreement issue was not resolved during public hearings earlier this month, and the Concord City Council ordered the two sides to return to the negotiating table.

"At the heart of the debate was whether the developers had promised a comprehensive agreement in 2016 when they were picked for the development. Labor representatives said that [Kofi] Bonner [of FivePoint] seemed to agree to an all-union project at that time," notes Dineen.