12 Jun Antioch Moves Forward With One Housing Development, Pushes Back Another

Antioch City Council members Tamisha Torres-Walker and Don Freitas both voiced support for a new housing development. Freitas praised it, in part, for its planned proximity to Kaiser. “For someone like myself who has suffered a heart attack, getting to that hospital in time is critical,” he said. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Over 200 more homes are well on their way to being developed as part of a 1,177-home residential development in Antioch, but a smaller multifamily development hit a snag after seeking approval from officials on Tuesday. 

The Antioch City Council approved phase two of The Ranch project, which includes 77.8 acres west of the Kaiser Permanente on Sand Creek Road, two years after approving the 440-home first phase. 

“I’m excited about this project on so many levels because it answers so many of the needs that we have in our community,” said council member Don Freitas. 

The project, which is developed by Richland Communities, is set to include a new fire station, an extension of Sand Creek Road to Dallas Ranch Road, more than six miles of trails and more than $2.5 million in economic development funding for the city to use. 

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Freitas said the project will also mean that there will “finally be a linkage between Eastern Contra Costa communities” because of the future connection to Sand Creek Road in Brentwood, which will provide a route to the Kaiser facility. 

“For someone like myself who has suffered a heart attack, getting to that hospital in time is critical,” he said. 

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Three local laborers threw in their support for the project, citing the opportunity the development brought in for workers to have jobs.

Council member Tamisha Torres-Walker, who voted against phase one of the project in 2023, said she supported the project because of the agreement between the developer and local contractors. 

Torres-Walker said she also approved of the expansion of fire and police services and the fact that environmental groups approved of the project. 

In 2020, Save Mount Diablo, which preserves natural lands around the area, did not support or object to the development, but did credit Richland for changes to the project that include buffers around parts of the creek and some eucalyptus trees. 

Environmental groups in 2018 successfully launched a ballot initiative — known as the “Let Antioch Voters Decide” measure — to limit the development around Sand Creek Road. The council adopted the initiative that year, but a court ruling the next year threw the decision out. 

The council later approved a development agreement with Richland in 2020. 

Jessica Court development pushed back

A three-story, 82-unit multifamily development, known as the Jessica Court Multifamily Project, east of the Oakley Road-Phillips Lane intersection, will come back to the council at a later date after members raised concerns with the lack of affordability for units and the development’s appearance and access.

Council members voted 5-0 to ask the project developer to address concerns in a future meeting before the project could move forward. 

The project would also include a 2,554-square-foot community center and 144 parking spaces throughout the development. Of the units, 36 would be one-bedroom units, another 36 would be two-bedroom units and 10 would be three-bedroom units. 

Freitas was critical of the project’s appearance, pointing to the “bulky, monolithic” building with little color and likening it to a detention facility, and of the size of many units, which are 600 square feet. 

“How did this pass muster? I don’t get it,” he said. “I hate it. I don’t think it’s something that we should embrace.” 

City staff and the applicant of the project, Krishna Uppugunduri of Shoonya LLC, said the design met all of the objective standards required by the city.

As for increasing the size of the units, the applicant told the council that increasing the size of the units would then make the units unaffordable. 

Torres-Walker and Mayor Pro Tem Louie Rocha raised concerns with the affordability of units and whether the units would be for rent or for sale. 

“Everything seems to be maximized on the profit margin,” said Freitas. “Part of my concerns is quality of life issues.”  

Mayor Ron Bernal, Freitas, Rocha and Torres-Walker said that though the development included a play structure area — as is required by the city’s standards — they were also critical of the lack of open space available to residents.