2024 looks like a mixed bag for Point Molate and Winehaven. Nearly 30 years after the Richmond City Council first considered acquisition of Point Molate, the only remarkable physical change has been the steady deterioration of buildings in the Winehaven Historic District and the continuation of vandalism and theft in the never-ending quest for the last fragment of copper wire. Oh, and the opening of Point Molate Beach, which closed temporarily during the city fiscal crisis of the early 2000s.

Despite dreams of a regional park at Point Molate, nothing tangible has happened. Other than the Point Molate Beach Park, Point Molate remains fenced off and inaccessible to the public, except for vandals who remain undeterred by the haphazard security that is the responsibility of the City of Richmond.

70 percent of Point Molate remains in City of Richmond ownership, and as mayor, I introduced an agenda item to transfer that 70 percent to the East Bay Regional Parks District, but a suspicious City Council voted it down. The other 30 percent, including the Winehaven Historic District, was sold for $400 in 2022 to Point Molate Futures, LLC, representing the Guidiville Tribe and Upstream. Apparently, discussions are ongoing about a potential sale to the East Bay Regional Parks District, but all this has been confidential and unavailable for public input.

One piece of good news is that construction of the Bay Trail from the Richmond San Rafael Bridge through Point Molate is scheduled to begin in 2024.

East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) has partnered with the City to build 2.5 miles of Bay Trail along the shoreline north from the Richmond San Rafael Bridge past Point Molate Beach Park to the Winehaven Historic District using over $6 million in grants secured by the City and the District. Construction bidding was delayed for several reasons, but is expected to take place by February, followed by construction during 2024. The trail will open up a scenic, historic stretch of San Francisco Bay shoreline where there is no public access other than at Point Molate Beach Park (2024_NewYear_TRAC_FINAL_reduced.pdf (pointrichmond.com)).

The endgame for Winehaven, once California’s largest winery, unfortunately, does not look good. The coalition of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), the Point Molate Alliance (PMA), the Sierra Club, John Gioia, East Bay Regional Parks District, Senator Nancy Skinner and other out pf towners loke Robert Cheasty, advocating for a regional park have never included a viable Winehaven rehabilitation and adaptive reuse in their plans, although they have typically paid lip service to its preservation – like it could just happen. In fact, those who have spoken out on the subject have expressed either disdain for Winehaven or admitted that it doesn’t fit into their park plans.

City Council member Doria Robinson recently wrote, comparing Winehaven to the fire-destroyed International Hotel:

Winehaven doesn’t have the same multilayerd historical resonance, was only operating a few years and is removed from community members.

Jeff Kilbreth, acknowledged by the RPA and PMA as their go-to guru on Point Molate real estate economics recently told the Grandview Independent:

Part of the problem of moving toward a resolution is an illusion that Winehaven can be turned into a successful development and cover renovation costs, said Jeff Kilbreth. “I honestly suspect that the best thing that could happen would be if we bulldozed Winehaven and made it all a park. Call me crazy, but I actually think that it’s so deteriorated and so expensive to make that place work as any kind of normal development,” Kilbreth said.

Figure 2 - Tarping of Winehaven Cottages begins

It continues to disappoint that the RPA-controlled City Council continues to ignore the potential value of Winehaven as a treasured historical resource that could be a great credit to Richmond and an attraction of even national significance. It has been listed on the National Reigister of Historic Places since 1978 (nominated by Lucretia Edwards, no less!). Also see Winehaven (Point Molate) (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).

Cheasty said Citizens for East Shore Parks wants to see a network of parks and open space along the east bay shoreline so that there would be a continuous shoreline experience from Crockett to San Jose.

“I do know that there have been serious conversations among the park district, Guidiville, the city, and even our larger organizations and other interests that brought these lawsuits,” Cheasty said.

The numbers have not been thoroughly threshed out, but Cheasty said he thinks there is a path forward.

“We just need to inch our way there and come with a sufficient amount of money. The state budget procured $36 million for the acquisition and development of a park out at Point Molate, so there is money to do this,” he said.

Ownership
Guidiville and Upstream received the developable parcels with the understanding that they would have five years to sell them and split the proceeds with the city. 

“By sell, I mean they would have to come to the city with a development proposal. Because their other approvals have all been basically rescinded by the city, they’re pretty much starting from scratch. They have to be able to show the financial strength to do whatever proposal they have,” Cheasty said. “They’d have to go back and get an EIR approved, and they’d have to come and convince this city council that the proposal was meritorious and worthy.” 

Almost a year and a half has passed. Guidiville and Upstream have roughly three years and seven or eight months to market the property. If they fail to do so, it goes back to the city.

“I don’t want to step past the things I’ve picked up in confidence. I want to be careful about what I say, but I think there have been diligent efforts, discussions, and negotiations about moving forward with a settlement plan,” Cheasty said.

Cheasty stated that while lots of numbers have been thrown around for the purchase of Guidiville and Upstream interests, an agreed-upon price of $45 million between the city and Suncal might be the right amount. 

“I think that the $45 million will turn out to be a benchmark for what the value is or could be or should be. Maybe less now that we’ve got this judgment because now there are no approvals,” Cheasty said.

The Point Molate project had envisioned a mixed-use community with 1,260 newly constructed residential units.

Winehaven Village
Cheasty said everybody agrees that the Winehaven Village should be revitalized and put to good use and purpose, but there should be a planning process in Richmond that allows for that to happen.

Winehaven was built at Point Molate by the California Wine Association after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake destroyed many of its San Francisco facilities. The association is credited with elevating California’s winemaking reputation and would dominate wine production in California until Prohibition.

The cottages, once home to workers at what was once the world’s largest winery, are located in a National Register Historic District. They were constructed between 1907 and 1919 and later housed military families when the Navy acquired Point Molate for a fuel depot during World War II. The base was closed in 1995 under the U.S. Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act. In 2003, ownership was transferred to the city.

A nonprofit formed by two former Richmond mayors filed a lawsuit in a bid to save deteriorating historic Winehaven structures at Point Molate.

(Nonprofit files suit to save historic Winehaven structures, A nonprofit formed by two former Richmond mayors has filed a lawsuit in a bid to save historic Winehaven structures at Point Molate, once the location of the largest winery in the world. Winehaven Trust is demanding the replacement of roofs and gutters, the stabilization of brick turrets as well -- Grandview IndependentSoren Hemmila)

“Because of the lawsuits, particularly the Guidiville and Upstream lawsuit, the city felt they couldn’t go through a process to do any real serious planning. So that never happened, which is really a shame for a city like Richmond, which is a vibrant city with a lot of incredibly creative people,” Cheasty said. “So where we are now is we have an area that is perfect for a park and an area that calls out for some kind of creative development in the Winehaven Village.”

Not everyone at the speaker series spoke in favor of saving the Winehaven buildings. 

Part of the problem of moving toward a resolution is an illusion that Winehaven can be turned into a successful development and cover renovation costs, said Jeff Kilbreth.

“I honestly suspect that the best thing that could happen would be if we bulldozed Winehaven and made it all a park. Call me crazy, but I actually think that it’s so deteriorated and so expensive to make that place work as any kind of normal development,” Kilbreth said.
Kilbreth said former Mayor Tom Butt made a misguided backroom deal in selecting Suncal to develop Point Molate, and Butt was committed to Winehaven in a “maniacal way.”

“He also remains unreasonably devoted to this endeavor. He’s fixated on developing it, particularly emphasizing the preservation of Winehaven’s Historic District and keeping the aspiration of revitalizing Winehaven alive,” Kilbreth said. “If the development couldn’t support a nut as expensive as a $6 million a year cost for a fire station. What makes anybody think that any development scenario at Winehaven could support a $400 infrastructure investment.”

In Butt's email newsletter, the former mayor said the Appeal Court found that the EIR was adequate in all but two narrow areas, both of which could have been easily corrected.

“This will substantially diminish the potential value of the 30 percent of Point Molate now owned by Point Molate Futures, LLC (the tribe and Upstream), but it will also potentially increase the value of the Winehaven Legacy, LLC (SunCal) lawsuit against the City – bad news for the City of Richmond,” Butt wrote.

Richmond retains its discretion over what further steps may be taken at Point Molate as long as it complies with the California Environmental Quality Act, wrote Norman La Force in a Sierra Club article.

“While we have not yet achieved our goal of saving Point Molate, we are closer to reaching our vision of a regional park that will provide Richmond with much-needed green space, protect the substantial biodiversity in the area, and create opportunities for sea level rise resilience projects,” La Force wrote.