The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it. The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: Earlier today, we posted a story about the picket fence property on Galindo and Clayton Rd/Concord Blvd in Concord. What do you think should be done to the property?
Talk about it….
High density buildings.
Whatever the people want, it’s all about what’s best for the members of the City Council.
This is the most likely option since commercial real estate is doing quite badly. High density housing will bring the most tax revenue for the city so this is what the city council will push for. Not to mention all the new laws passed last year fast tracking construction. I think we’ll slowly go in the direction Austin, TX did with enormous amounts of new construction that craters rent and home prices. It will be a good thing too. We should be concerned about the well-being of the next generation and that will involve drastically reducing home prices or at least building enough to where homes around here permanently stop appreciating so the younger folks have a chance to catch up.
The city will make it a Homeless KOA Campground.
Olive Garden? 🙂 Indoor target and archery range?
High rise jail
The Concord City Council will only allow one thing to be done with this property, and that is high-density housing with a significant portion of affordable housing units in the project. It doesn’t matter what the citizens of Concord want, because most Concord citizens don’t want more high-density housing in Concord.
Rollerworld
Erect a 10 story statue of Mark deSaulnier, like the Colossus of Rhodes, on that property. Illuminate it at night to awe the commuters driving on Clayton Road as they pass by.
Great answer, my first laugh of the day.
Give homeless, their own gated community,
https://tinyurl.com/5a3dnd6t
.
OR,
Another site for gated community is bounded by Mt Diablo Street,
Mesa Street and Cowell Road. That bart parking lot is ALWAYS
EMPTY. It’s paved surrounded by a steel fence. Has two wide
access gates. Cost would be minimal for electricity, centralized
bathrooms and trailer for showers. Area is directly behind Concord PDs
Taj Mahal. Out of sight from Galindo Street traffic.
https://tinyurl.com/yc5wsusz
Olive Garden? 😝
(‘Just had to add that one!)
Cannabis club
build a temple, fill the priests’ hallowed halls with great computers, so their walls can hold all the gifts of life. We can call it Gavin.
2112!
Mary Lou Nelson?
Protected Corn Snake habitat.
A shooting range. Some of the shootings around here the shopterscare terrible shots and need more time on a range.
Just make it a big parking lot with traffic lights for safe vehicle exits and pedestrian crossings.
Building on that, we could make it a WayMo parking lot, so we could bemusedly watch one driverless car honk at another driverless car, all honking at each other all night.
A jumbo parking lot for easy parking downtown and for the people living around there
Hey! now that’s a good idea!
Go get them Spirit Poles out of storage and let’s impale some fools.
Atticus Thraxx,
.
Weren’t the “Spirit Poles” sold off as scrap metal?
Do I detect a bit of sarcasim here? Did we not just have an election where some of the same City politicians were reelected? Change doesn’t come from the elected. It comes from the voters. The elected have no reason to foster change (it’s a threat to the continued norm).
Bonehead,
.
Concord voters ousted three sitting councilmembers in three of the last four Concord City Council elections, Councilmember Ron Leone in 2018, Councilmember Tim McGallian in 2022, and Mayor Edi Birsan in 2024. Prior to the 2018 election, Concord voters last voted out sitting councilmembers in 1993, where Lloyd Mashore, Byron Campbell, and Nancy Gore were all voted out of office.
Again? Didn’t they put this up for bid a few years ago? How many times has Concord tried to off-load this lot? Tell us again why Concord owns this lot. Who got what favors? Who cut $$ deals to move their car dealership(s) ? 😉
This lot (and our airport and bridge) sits squarely on top of the way over-due Concord Fault and Liquefaction Zone. Who in their right mind would Pack & Stack living souls and high-rises along that line?
https://maps.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/informationwarehouse/eqzapp/#data_s=id%3AdataSource_4-191d8e4b825-layer-21%3A1849
No Excuses,
.
Yes, the City of Concord had tried to offload this same property several years ago. There was at least one, if not more, interested parties in this property. The biggest sticking point, at least among Concord residents, was the small number of “affordable housing units” the developer was or developers were proposing for this project.
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At about the same time that the city was attempting to offload this property, Concord’s cheating, crooked, corrupt, lying, Willie Brown-loving preacher and Assemblyman Tim Grayson was working hard to abolish developer fees that cities and counties require developers to pay per housing unit in order to fund infrastructure projects that would be impacted due to further development.
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The City of Concord acquired this property through the now defunct “Concord Redevelopment Agency.” Redevelopment Agencies were abolished by the State of California early into Governor Jerry Brown’s third term, which began in 2010. If the City of Concord is successful in selling off this property, it won’t receive all of the money, as the city is required to share these funds with the state and/or other agencies, which were involved with, a part of, or funded the Concord Redevelopment Agency.
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The City of Concord is hurting for money, so I’m sure the push to offload this property now, is to get more money into city coffers as soon as possible. Don’t be surprised to see another sales tax increase measure, parcel tax, or bond measure on our ballots in the near future.
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The City of Concord, ABAG, MTC, and the State of California each want all of these high-density housing projects built in downtown Concord as quickly as possible, next to or on top of the Concord Fault or not.
Make it a solar park, generate power with power banks. Reduce cost to community.
Actually…. howsabout if I sneak out there in the wee hours & bury some ancient injun bones and artifacts then have someone “accidentally” discover them?
Hand the land over to the local tribe and they can declare it “Sacred” and keep everyone off of it or maybe build a Casino?
How about a picket fence sales lot?
Open a drive-thru restaurant. Cars already drive onto the property.
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM –
Some type of Children’s museum where educational institutions can prioritize interactive, hands-on exhibits and programs designed to spark curiosity and foster learning through play, catering to the needs and interests of children. Something the schools can field trip to. An area for earth and environmental learning, an area for space and cosmos learning, an area for science & technology, and more. Kind of like a mini Exploratorium. Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, makes sense we could cater to the children in our community for once.
Homeless shelter!!!!