April 14, 2015

Long-awaited Delta Coves could soon become reality

By Paula King
Contra Costa Times

BETHEL ISLAND — A long-awaited marina community slated to feature 560 waterfront homes has sat idle for seven years, but some upcoming infrastructure improvements indicate home construction is on the horizon.

The 310-acre luxury Delta Coves community will be located along a man-made lagoon near Gateway and Stone roads. Approved by Contra Costa County in the 1970s, Delta Coves has been delayed for decades by a federal lawsuit and lenders filing for bankruptcy in 2008, which led to the development’s current roads and infrastructure being abandoned, fenced off and protected by security.

“The timing of when the model homes will actually be built by the homebuilder firms is influenced by consumer demand in the market,” said spokesman Joe Aguirre of SunCal, the project’s owner and master developer, which purchased the property in 2012.

Construction will begin soon on an off-site water supply line that will extend it from its current location along East Cypress and Bethel Island roads to the entrance of Delta Coves, Aguirre added. That will be followed by the residential lots being sold to potential homebuilders for future construction.

“This new water line will run one and a half miles long and will go across the new Contra Costa County bridge that was built to accommodate the water pipe,” he said. “Also, work will soon begin on making repairs to the previously installed infrastructure around the property that was vandalized and damaged.”

In late March, a facilities installation agreement was approved between Delta Coves and the local Diablo Water District to serve the project’s anticipated water service needs.
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The project will allow residents boating access to the Delta and San Francisco Bay with at least 419 homes featuring private boat docks. Other amenities include a 130-acre marina with 230 boat slips and a 3,000 square-foot community clubhouse with a swimming pool and fitness center.

Bethel Island Municipal Improvement District’s manager Jeff Butzlaff noted that Delta Coves is a multiagency project and all of them are cooperating at this time.

“We want to make sure that everything is done for the benefit of the entire island,” he said. “It is a complex project.”

An aerial photo shows the site plan for the Delta Coves development, a master-planned luxury waterfront custom-home community in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta area. The plan features 310 acres on Bethel Island. (Courtesy of SunCal)