New permits have been filed for the massive suburban project on a large swath of land off Highway 4 in Discovery Bay, east Contra Costa County. The former Cecchini Ranch was sold 2018 to the Henghou Group for $11.5 million. The latest permits come after initial plans filed in 2021 to reshape over a thousand acres of agricultural land with over two thousand homes.
Zheng Shizao, president of the Henghou Group, is listed as the project applicant. Pre-application permits were filed with the city in the Fall of 2021, preserving the northern 560 acres of the 1,122-acre property with an Agricultural Conservation Easement. Initial plans drafted by CBG were published in late 2022.
Cecchini Ranch redevelopment site, image via Google Satellite
The document shows how the project would reshape the southern 555 acres with 2,227 units, including 1,275 single-family structures, 515 duplexes, and a 334-unit affordable apartment complex. While the plans do not incorporate the city’s distinctive branch-like network of home-lined streets extending through bays, a central pond and park serve as the proposed community’s primary open space.
Late last month, Henghou Group filed a series of new permits reasserting plans to develop the parcel. The latest project description states the development could bring around 2,000 homes dedicated to “Adult Residential Living” alongside “light industrial space, sports parks, community park with a community center, boat and RV storage, open space, preserved wetlands, and a fire station.” New project plans have not been made available.
Discovery Bay is a census-designated town on the eastern edge of Contra Costa County, bordering San Joaquin County. The town was first established in 1968, redirecting water from the Old River and Indian Slough into Lido Bay.
Several new bays have been added over the years, producing a winding network of homes with docks facing directly onto the water. The proposed development by Henghou Group would extend directly to the county borders, adding new housing along the banks of the Old River.
The project team could not be reached in time for publication.
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AWFUL!
Agree! The former Cecchini Ranch Redevelopment plan to be possibly located in Discover Bay appears as extreme eyesore. One of the concepts for Discovery Bay being built in ’68 was for vacation homes and eventually a wonderful community on the beautiful Delta for family, fun, and recreation. As for the former Cecchini Ranch Redevelopment, East San Jose has many large parcels definitely quite more applicable to “ranch” concepts.
Who are the Henghou Group? Are we selling out our country to foreign developer?
Discovery Bay was an environmental travesty and should not be expanded. Every development incursion into the Delta should be resisted, especially those abutting waterways and sloughs. The levees are mostly ancient, and any work to shore up levees should focus on areas like Sacramento where there is already significant population. This is the riparian equivalent of the urban/wildlife interface concern about wildfires.
Even if you don’t care about the environmental argument, every time a levee fails, the cost to the taxpayers is eye-popping, and that’s just for mostly farmland areas. The developer will be long gone when the bill comes due.
Wasn’t this area, at one time, reserved for a new high school? Now 2,227 new units!! Concerned re mention of “light industrial.” No mention of plans for an additional grocery store(s) or gasoline facilities. Safeway, seems time will arrive to open all lanes all night long!
Duncan. The levees here are maintained by Rec800. We pay a lot of local taxes to maintain them and they’re in excellent shape. They’re not going to fail. From an environmental point of view, a housing development will pour less nitrates and phosphates into the delta. It’s not a step to the bad over farmland use, just different. I have local infrastructure concerns, though. CA4 to the west is inadequate as it is and needs to be expanded to four lanes all the way to Balfour. While agricultural use can pump water from the river, housing development will be required to pump water from wells, which has it’s own issues. Fire and EMT response is pretty crappy in Discovery Bay and I’d like to know what the plans are to expand service
This is utterly ridiculous, especially selling to Chinese. Their government is doing everything they can to destroy the United States from within. Someone needs to wake thee liberal politicians up, and get them out of office!
The roadways around Discovery Bay are already congested. Leave the area around here the way it is.
No more houses!!!! Look how Brentwood exploded. Our roads and our two lane bridges towards Stockton cannot handle any more traffic!!!!! We have been in Discovery Bay for 24 years – please, please do not destroy it.
Discovery Bay already lacks the resources to serve its residents NOW. It is entirely unserved by public transportation of any kind, is severely unserved by sheriff patrol and resources, no parks and recreation programming or control, no senior services, no youth services, one understaffed fire station (often busy elsewhere in unincorporated East CC County, no local control government, and has significant exposure to water and power supply vulnerabilities.
There is a need for approximately 150 units of small, affordable senior housing, to meet the residents who can no longer afford to remain in their homes, but Discovery Bay is far too rural, lacking in roadway capacity (a narrow and aging two-lane highway), lacking in emergency services, basic essential resources, and age-friendly infrastructure to be attracting seniors from elsewhere.
I’d like to see Discovery Bay develop the empty lots that currently exist within the community with affordable senior housing for those that already live here unsustainably. and transit linkages to serve them. Until Discovery Bay can meet the needs of its existing residents, it’s evident the community simply lacks the capacity to take on this growth.
Terrible idea for traffic, emergency services, schools and stores. Need to add things for kids and teens out here, NOT more housing.
Unfortunately, I know firsthand that we are lacking services, especially emergency services. It took my friend that was in a head on collision an hour and a half to have her a little boy and her daughter to have an ambulance and a helicopter to even arrive that just happened a week ago, so if it takes an hour and a half to have emergency vehicle come to a car crash that has two small children in it by road or by air. I think we definitely have to think about that especially with senior citizens and if you have any young children because unfortunately Accidents happen and unfortunately, it takes over an hour for someone to get to you and her son is young and had to be airlifted. Thank God they all made it, but I’m sure a lot of people and head on collision waiting for that amount of time for help wouldn’t I also feel That we have one grocery store which is getting to be overloaded and two gas stations one bank so that has to change also to be able to accommodate the amount of people they want to bring in