See slice of Bethel Island for sale. Delta waterfront property could be developed
A 600-acre slice of Bethel Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with two miles of shoreline — property that was once under contract for $67 million — is for sale via auction.
Platinum Luxury Auctions, which will hold the sale on Oct. 8 with a pre-sealed bid deadline Sept. 13, calls the Contra Costa property “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: a 600-acre site with two miles of shoreline in the lush California Delta.”
The property has never been formally listed.
A buyer could continue using the land for farming , build a family compound or develop the three contiguous parcels into a housing project, according to Platinum Luxury Auctions.
“Its best use, however, may be for further development,” said Trayor Lesnock, founder and president of Platinum Luxury Auctions, in an email. “A nationally prominent home builder previously placed the property under contract for more that $60 million, with plans for developing a mixed use residential community and marina.”
The builder withdrew the offer to pursue other projects, Lesnock added.
The property has been certified as an organic farm since 2013 — 40 acres of the land is being used to grow corn, pumpkin and sunflowers — and houses a “modest” black Angus cattle and poultry operation, according to Platinum Luxury.
There is plentiful water on the site from the surrounding waterways and three on-site wells.
Bethel Island totals 3,500 acres. The sale of three continuous parcels represents the largest property available, totaling nearly 20 percent of the entire island. The waterfront acreage lies along the Taylor and Piper Sloughs.
The property up for auction includes a 2,700 square foot living structure with 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms.
“The sellers have enjoyed the land for nearly 20 years and have held many get-togethers there for their large family,” Lesnock told the Sacramento Bee. “They also own other land in the area and would like to lessen their land holdings and re-purpose their capital for other investments. The living structure has been used only for caretakers’/guests’ quarters on a non-permanent basis.”
The property provides deep water access out to the San Francisco Bay.
Neighboring land is mostly residential development, along with marinas/boating facilities.
Lesnock said the nearby Delta Coves community is “a robust, residential development that includes nearly 500 single-family waterfront homes, each priced from about $900,000 to $2 million.”
The parcels have several zoning designations, ranging from General Agriculture and Heavy Agriculture to Water Recreational District, he said. A change to the current zoning would be necessary for any large-scale development — such as a residential community — to proceed on the property site, Lesnock added.
Bethel Island is the most densely populated portion of the larger California Delta region, Lesnock said, with more than 2,000 residents calling the area home “due to its relaxed lifestyle, recreational boating amenities and relative housing affordability as compared to the major metros located within close proximity,” such as San Francisco.
The property also has a newly reinforced levee, a $4 million project paid by the island’s municipal district.
Bethel Island can be accessed only by bridge. It’s a 90-minute drive from there to San Francisco.
