Set Your Sites on El Cerrito

With other Bay Area cities reaching saturation and limiting new developments, El Cerrito still offers wide potential here for commercial, retail, office, and residential development and redevelopment, with no development impact fees. Plus something almost unheard of in the rest of the Bay Area: plenty of free parking.

Your enterprise can take root and flourish here
We know that city government exists to help the development that a community needs to thrive. A good example of the kind of partnership we offer is our Redevelopment Agency’s collaboration with the new owners of the Cerrito Speakeasy Theater: we helped speed the restoration of this Art Deco treasure. Reborn in 2006 as a destination movie house and restaurant, the Cerrito offers cabaret-style dinner and a movie in a dazzling setting.

Many planned or active development projects here center on San Pablo Avenue, the lively commercial corridor we share with neighboring communities. The City has invested $7.5 million to enhance our stretch of the Avenue with welcome signs and colorful banners, new seating, signage, bike racks, crosswalks, street trees and landscaping. It’s becoming an East Bay destination for shopping, dining, and lingering with friends.

El Cerrito’s famed “Music Row” attracts performers and enthusiasts to shops like the world-renowned Ifshin Violins as well as Down Home Music, Arhoolie Records, The Guitar Center, Music Works, Mod Lang Records, and 33 Revolutions Record Shop & Café . And the El Cerrito Plaza Shopping Center, renovated in 2003, draws local and visiting shoppers to major retailers, specialty shops, restaurants, and a twice-weekly farmer’s market.

Our goal is simple: to develop a positive relationship with businesses that provide a high quality of life to our residents. Our Economic Development and Redevelopment Division should be your first stop for exploring new opportunities and finding the best way to implement them.

Get in touch now!