Concord Mayor Edi Birsan, right, who voted against the affordable housing financing, listens as the Concord Naval Weapons Station project term sheet is discussed during a City Council meeting at Concord City Hall in Concord, Calif., on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
At a brief special meeting on Monday — the deadline for Pacific West to get approval for the financing — the council changed course and unanimously voted to greenlight the subsidies. While councilmembers had to OK the state tax-exempt bonds, which give developers access to low-interest construction loans, the financing comes at no cost to the city.
Birsan described the council’s initial move to block the subsidies as part of a negotiation with the developer that included securing “things that we needed to get confirmed in writing.” Birsan said his main concern was Pacific West would return to the council asking for more taxpayer-supported financing, but the developer convinced him that wouldn’t be necessary. He declined to say why other councilmembers changed their minds.
Brad Dickason, a San Francisco-based developer partnering with Pacific West on the project, welcomed the council’s decision “to recommit themselves to providing housing for all income levels to Concord” in a text message.