The site is 125 acres (51 ha) in total, including the adjacent Regatta Industrial Center purchased by the university.

[2]: 9  The Stege Marsh was formed after the Southern Pacific Railroad Company added fill to the site to build a rail spur in 1959.

[2]: 8 Native Americans used the site for fishing and shellfish harvesting, as evidenced by the presence of neighboring shellmounds, some of which were removed in 1915 for the development of the Harborgate tract in Richmond.

[2]: 7  It was part of the Rancho San Pablo land grant given to Francisco Maria Castro in 1823, which was subsequently subdivided and sold in the 1850s.

[3] The city of Richmond responded by passing Resolution 10–11 on February 1, advocating for the second campus to be sited at RFS[4] after receiving numerous letters of support from the community.

Despite the budget cuts, the Regents of the University of California approved the long-range development plan (LRDP) and environmental impact report for RBC in May 2014.

In an address to the Academic Senate, Dirks stated the new campus would serve as a research hub and education center to solve global problems in energy, medicine, economy, and environment.