With all the distractions at the City Council related to the mayor’s antisemitism, the media has no time to cover other important items such as the progress on approval of the
horrible Marina Point project.

 

On January 14, 2026, the Richmond Design Review Board rolled over on a 3-1 vote to recommend approval. Only Brian Carter voted no.

 

Instead of taking on the major flaws in the design, the DRB focused on trivial issues, such as seating along the Bay Trail.
Chair Vita Rey and Karlyn Neel spoke in favor of having public seating along the trail.

 

In a response that harkens back to the days when El Sobrante developers “gifted” undevelopable portions of subdivisions to the City, sticking the City forever with costs of fire
prevention, the developer stated that they had multiple meeting with BCDC staff, presenting various public access plans for the Open Space between the trail and the wall
supporting the houses and a 5’-wide private sidewalk parallel to the Bay Trail, and BCDC rejected them all. The developer said that they would be willing to create a separate parcel and donate it to the City, which might get a better reception from BCDC.  Bruce
Beyaert pointed out that BCDC’s legislative mandate was to provide maximum feasible access to the Bay and its shoreline and pointed out that the City shouldn’t have to pay to create and maintain public access amenities when all other developers have done this
under terms of a BCDC permit.

 

Marina Point is one of the worst projects to be proposed in Richmond in recent memory. The site is just east of
the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center, fronting on San Francisco Bay and the Bay Trail. This is the former “Richmond Rivera” site where voters rejected a project proposed
by Richard Poe several years ago. This new project is even worse.

 

For the full staff report, see
3_PLN23-117_MARINA-POINT-RESIDENTIAL_DEC-10-2025.

 

An article in the
Grandview Independent quoted me two years ago:

 

“It has single-family homes jammed-packed onto the site with almost no open space or amenities, and despite a world-class waterfront location, most homes only have a view of the house across the
street,” Butt wrote in his newsletter. “It is truly discouraging that the worst developers in the country continue
to bottom feed on Richmond and propose poorly designed ugly projects that fly in the face of good urban planning.”

 

I also covered this in the TOM BUTT E-FORUM two years ago, “Marina Point
Proposal is Richmond Riviera All Over Again – Except Worse.”

 

Unfortunately, the City of Richmond totally abdicated its responsibilities by failing to file a timely project review letter resulting
in a project deemed consistent with the City’s land use regulations under the Housing Accountability Act, despite being completely inconsistent with the City General Plan and Shoreline Overlay District zoning regulations. At least, the City is owning up to
their mistake.

 

The staff report states:

 

 

The General Plan designated this site as “HIMU – High Intensity Mixed-Use (Major Activity Center) & PR – parks and Recreation, and the zoning is
“CM-5, Commercial M0069ed Use, Activity Center.” These designations describe the desired use and the maximum density, but the proposed project is just the opposite.

 

Figure 1 – From Design Review staff report

First of all, the site plan is an abomination. The architecture firm,
KTGY, is well regarded and capable of outstanding design, but this horrible project may be the worst thing they have ever done. It consists of 70, detached, single family homes, crammed onto a world-class site with only
12 of them having a view across the bay. The rest look at each other across minimalistic entries in the front and across bare paved alleys in the back. This would be a bad plan in Turlock (sorry Turlockians), but on an increasingly rare San Francisco Bay waterfront
location next to the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park Visitor Center, it simply sucks.

 

Figure 2 – Marina Point Site Plan – tightly packed, no views, no amenities

The architecture of the homes is as bad as the site plan. There are no features that relate to the adjacent historic Ford Building and Oil House (Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center)
next door and no features that say, “waterfront.” These homes could be anywhere in Kansas (sorry Kansans).

Figure 3 – Rendering of the 12 homes of Marina Point facing the bay

Figure 4 – Kalmia Rose Housing by KTGY – showing what KTGY is capable of

Figure 5 – Another KTGFY multi-family project

Figure 6 – The home closest to the Rosie Visitor Center is only a few feet away and towers over the Visitor Center. It looks awful, too.

Because of the City’s procedural error under SB 330, the Design Review Board had limited discretion, but here are several points they could have made:

 

• Even though the City is constrained to act on it, making the point that the project is poorly planned and poorly designed
  is good to put in the record.

 

• No views for 80% of units
• Minimal amenities
• Poor relationship with Rosie the Riveter WW II Home Front National Historical Park Visitor Center next door.
• No design relationship to adjacent environment.
• Low density on a site adjacent to the ferry terminal. This site was visualized as a Transit Oriented Development (TOD).
  Richmond was able to get an early expansion ferry terminal by promising TOD.
• There is a poor relationship between the homes facing the bay and the Bay Trail. There is no transition, minimal landscaping,
  just a wall. As a better example, see how this transition was handled at Waterline (below)

 

Figure 7 – Waterline and Bay Trail

 

• Other points that might have carried more weight:

 

• The proposed project is not consistent with the City’s General Plan, Housing Element, or adopted Housing Element Site
  Inventory.
• There will be a net loss of 100 moderate income housing units that will no longer be built at the site, and there are
  no other contemplated sites in the City that have been identified to make up the shortfall.
• A fair number of Bay Trail users in the area are Rosie the Riveter visitors. There should be public access improvements
  that would complement or support the programs and activities at Rosie the Riveter including creating a gathering or resting space adjacent to the Rosie the Visitor Center where visitors may congregate to rest, learn, wait for ranger led talks, and/or picnic.
  There currently are few seating or resting areas in front of the Visitor Center. There are also opportunities to create additional Rosie the Riveter interpretation materials or even a Rosie the Riveter themed playground since there are few playgrounds in this
  area.
• The Richmond Wellness Trail is planned to run along Marina Way South and is a main connector trail to the Bay Trail from
  the heart of downtown Richmond. Meet the intent of the Richmond Wellness Trail by providing bicycle and pedestrian facilities that are safe, useable, and low-stress for bicyclists and pedestrians as part of the Marina Point Project. These facilities could
  include an off-street, multi- use path or sidewalk improvements along with a Class IV bikeway. The Marina Point Project currently appears to propose only adding sharrows along Marina Way South which would not meet the goal of providing bicycling and walking
  facilities for all ages and abilities."’

 

The article below is from the
Richmond Standard:

Marina Point Residential Project returns for public hearing

December 8, 2025

0

 

Project renderings via city documents.

 

The Design Review Board is set to review an updated version of the Marina Point Residential Project at its
meeting on Dec. 10. The plan would build 70 three-story single-family homes and 30 Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) on a long-vacant waterfront site in Marina Bay. The public hearing scheduled for Dec. 10 could determine whether the project moves forward
to the Planning Commission.

The project site, located at the terminus of Marina Way South, is a roughly 4.92-acre vacant lot at 2100
Marina Way South. The site borders the San Francisco Bay Trail and Ford Channel and sits adjacent to Lucretia Edwards Park and the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park. It is also within walking distance of the Richmond Ferry Terminal.

The developer, Southern California-based Guardian Commercial Real Estate, L.P., proposes public access improvements
along the Bay Trail, interpretive signage, seating areas, and a plaza with stair access to the trail from the development.

The project, under city review since 2023, has been met with criticism among some in the community, including former
Mayor Tom Butt who argued it should have included higher density in housing and leverage proximity to transportation and waterfront amenities. 

The project returning to Richmond’s Design Review Board this week is updated with revisions that aim to
address shoreline setback concerns, public access connections and Bay Trail integration. Current plans do not update the number of housing units proposed by the developer.

For more information, visit
city documents here.