Contra Costa County breaks ground at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, on Orbisonia Village and a new Bay Point Library, a mixed-use project at Bailey Road and Maylard Street, within walking distance of the Pittsburg-Bay Point BART station. The ceremony is at 570 S. Broadway Ave. in Bay Point. The first phase pairs a 20,900-square-foot public library with 167 affordable rental homes on a 3.31-acre site, according to the office of District V Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston, who represents Bay Point.

A library that isn't inside a school

It is the first new library the county has built in 50 years, the county says. Bay Point's current library is about 4,000 square feet inside the Riverview Middle School library, and it is open to the public only outside school hours, according to the Library Foundation of Contra Costa, which made the new building the target of its first capital campaign. As an unincorporated community, Bay Point has no city budget or dedicated library foundation of its own to add to baseline county funding, the foundation says.

The new library is planned to include a maker space, a children's room, a teen space, a quiet reading room, an upper-level balcony, six study rooms and a large community meeting room. It is expected to open to the public in spring 2029, with construction continuing through 2028.

"Bay Point is the largest unincorporated community in Contra Costa County. I'm thrilled our Bay Point residents will soon have a dedicated, state-of-the-art library they can call their own," Scales-Preston said in the county's announcement.

Who the apartments are for

The first phase has 169 units: 167 affordable rentals plus two manager units. They are set aside for households earning 30% to 70% of the area median income, in a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes for individuals and families. The county says the full Orbisonia Village plan will eventually create a community for about 1,000 residents.

"It's exciting to see the County's long-term redevelopment vision come to life with Orbisonia Village, creating a vibrant community for about 1,000 residents and a new library near BART," said Board of Supervisors Chair Diane Burgis, the District III supervisor.

Who is building it and how it is paid for

Architects Orange designed the project. It will be built and owned by Pacific West Communities, an Idaho-based affordable housing developer that is part of The Pacific Companies. The county puts the first phase's total cost at about $128 million. County money includes land financing, Measure X sales tax funds and Permanent Local Housing Allocation funds, alongside other state and federal financing. The Board of Supervisors has also approved local affordable housing funds and tax-exempt financing for the project.

The county says it has also sought state money for bike and pedestrian improvements, transit service and bus shelters, transit passes for residents, and job training and anti-displacement programs tied to the development.

More East Bay housing news: Concord's Naval Weapons Station plan for 12,272 homes.