Mare Island's Connolly Corridor is on hold — and the sewer fight explains why
The signature Mare Island development is paused over a sewer system older than anyone currently involved — here's what's actually moving and what isn't.
The flagship development project on Mare Island has been formally paused, and the reason is infrastructure that predates everyone currently involved.
What's on hold
The Connolly Corridor — a planned mix of waterfront food and beverage, retail, office space, and a hotel along the old coal sheds — is on hold while mediation between the City of Vallejo and the Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District resolves who is responsible for the island's deteriorating sewer system. Under previous timelines, the project was supposed to be done by 2027.
The sewer fight underneath it
A 2025 infrastructure report found broken and corroded pipes, bad joints, leaking maintenance holes, cracks, and cross-connections that have pushed the system to its operational capacity. The city, the wastewater district, and the Mare Island Company all disagree on who is responsible for the repairs. Some repairs are expected to begin in August using a federal grant — targeting water infiltration along the waterfront — but many more projects are necessary and future repair plans haven't been finalized.
The bigger plan is years out
The broader 14,000-unit specific plan submitted in October 2024 is also still early in a multi-year approval process. The Draft EIR isn't anticipated until September or October 2026, and no new homes can break ground under the new plan until full CEQA review and city council approval are complete.
The one near-term bright spot
Lennar has completed its due diligence and confirmed it will move forward with 96 previously approved single-family lots at Coral Sea Village, which already has a recorded map, new infrastructure, and prior city approval. Brian Nagy, SVP of Operations at the Mare Island Company, told the Solano Association of Realtors' marketing meeting that construction is expected to begin late summer or early fall.
My read for clients
For anyone transacting on the island right now, three things are true at once: the CFD (Mello-Roos) tax burden remains, the signature development project is stalled, and the infrastructure fight has no resolution date. That combination matters — you're paying the special tax today for amenities that are now on an uncertain timeline. The Lennar lots are the real near-term activity. If you own on Mare Island or you're weighing a purchase, talk to me first so we price that uncertainty in honestly rather than after the fact.