By Annie Sciacca, Bay Area News Group, January 8, 2020
“One day after the Concord City Council decided not to step in to settle their dispute with local labor over how much of the $6 billion redevelopment of old Navy land should be done by union workers, developer Lennar Concord LLC and Five Point declined to say or speculate what its next move will be.
“The proposed development would be the biggest in Concord’s history and one of the largest in the region, slated to cover 2,300 acres with 13,000 housing units and millions of square feet of office, retail and campus space.
“When both Lennar and the Contra Costa Building Trades Council indicated they were at an impasse over union labor, the council was asked to step in and decide whether the labor agreement offered by Lennar satisfies city-approved terms.
“On Wednesday, the council instead instructed both sides to keep negotiating and established non-binding guidelines that include hiring a certain number of local workers, running an apprenticeship program, offering assistance and workforce placement/training to veterans, and maintaining a prevailing wage standard. The unions had suggested most of those guidelines.
“ ‘I’m not sure this gives us guidance to get out of impasse,’ Lennar executive Kofi Bonner told the council at the end of Wednesday’s meeting. ‘One wonders how one goes forward.’
“Although Lennar representatives wouldn’t say what will happen next, a city staff report suggests the company might walk away from the project if forced to use more union labor.”
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