For decades, the future of Point Molate north of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge has been up in the air. The idyllic stretch of Bay Area shoreline had been the site of a Navy fueling site, faced proposed development as a casino, and nearly saw the construction of 1,450 luxury housing units as conservationists and developers battled over its future.
But on Tuesday, Point Molate’s future became clear for the first time in almost three decades as the East Bay Regional Parks District purchased 83 acres of shoreline from the Guidiville Rancheria of California for $40 million, with the goal of making it the agency’s newest regional park and ensuring the property will be preserved for future generations.
“It’s really our dual mission of preserving a rich heritage of natural and cultural resources in the East Bay, but then also providing equitable access to these open spaces,” said East Bay Regional Parks District General Manager Sabrina Landreth. “The stars were just aligned for us to be able to pull this off.”
Point Molate is a 413-acre peninsula near Point San Pablo just north of the Richmond Bridge, featuring views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mt. Tamalpais, and the East Brother Light Station. The 83-acre parcel bought by East Bay Parks is one of the last undeveloped and unprotected headlands in the Bay Area and hosts Osprey breeding grounds, coyotes along the coastal ridge and leopard sharks who shelter in eel grass beds, according to the Point Richmond Alliance, a nonprofit of Richmond citizens.
“We’ve got public lands back in public hands … this 83 acres represents the opportunity to save the whole of Point Molate,” said David Helvarg. “People are very excited about both the opportunities for recreational playing fields, which Richmond doesn’t have enough of, but also for access to a diverse natural park space for hiking and kayaking, and having that opportunity to engage with the natural world.”
Funding for the purchase comes from $36 million in the 2022-23 state budget, which the California State Coastal Conservancy administered as a grant to East Bay Parks in November 2024. The remaining funding was provided by East Bay Park’s measures AA and WW.
RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 22: The Point Molate area and Winehaven Castle, left, are seen from this drone view in Richmond, Calif., on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
From 1942 to 1995, Point Molate served as a U.S. Navy fuel storage and transfer facility. After being decommissioned by Congress, a 45-member committee formulated a reuse plan in 1997 for the site that prioritized economic development and recreational activities, but those plans faced challenges in the form of “steep topography, vehicular access constraints, contamination from past Naval actions, and neighboring heavy metal use,” according to the 1997 Point Malote Reuse Plan. The Navy turned the property over to the city of Richmond to guide Point Molate’s future.
The Guidiville Rancheria of California, a federally recognized tribe, proposed a $1.2 billion mega-casino in 2004. The mega-casino proposal was taken to Richmond’s public in a citywide advisory referendum in 2010, where it was defeated and subsequently rejected by the city council. The tribe and developer then sued the city for $750 million in damages, but a federal court upheld the council’s action in 2018, with the stipulation that the city evenly split the proceeds of any land sale with the tribe. In addition, the settlement stated that if the Point Molate property was not sold within 48 months — by May 21, 2022 — the land would be sold to the tribe for $400.
Another proposal, this time from Winehaven Legacy LLC in 2020, sought to construct 1,450 homes on a 270-acre section of Point Molate. Though the Richmond city council approved the plan in September 2020, public opposition from groups like Point Richmond Alliance forced the city council to reverse its decision in 2022 and pursue alternatives.
Point Molate was transferred from the city of Richmond to the Guidiville Rancheria for $400 in May 2022, with five years to decide how to utilize the land. The tribe answered that lingering question on Tuesday with the sale of the property to East Bay Parks.
“They’re getting the 82 acres that were under planned development for between 1,500–2,000 unaffordable houses for the average Richmond citizen,” Helvarg said. “And instead, the average Richmond citizen now will have a park that’s comparable to any in the Bay Area.”
East Bay Parks will conduct a robust public planning process in the coming years to begin shaping the East Bay’s next regional park, likely with some combination of trails, passive recreation and public space, Landreth said. She added that her team is already working on plans for the public to visit the park through guided tours to experience “this unbelievable parcel of land,” but she did not have a date for when Point Molate would officially open as a regional park.
Helvarg said he was driving from San Rafael over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge before the sale when he saw the dark silhouette of Point Molate in the fading evening light. He said he began to think of the mule deer and butterflies taking shelter on land that almost became a casino or housing.
“Sometimes you save the Earth 400 acres at a time,” Halvarg said.