Meeting Overview

Date/time: March 10, 2026, 4:07 p.m. Special Berkeley City Council meeting. Presiding: Mayor Adena Ishii. Councilmembers present: Igor Tregub (D4), Shoshana O’Keefe (D5), Brent Blackaby (D6), Cecilia Lunaparra (D7), Mark Humbert (D8). Absent: Rashi Kesarwani (D1), Terry Taplin (D2), Ben Bartlett (D3). Presenters: Office of Economic Development (OED) staff including Eleanor Hollander, Vincent McCoy, Liz Redmond‑Cleveland and others. Purpose: presentation of the 2025 Berkeley Economic Dashboards and Commercial District Dashboards covering employment, real estate, visitation, startups, retail, sales tax, housing, small business support, sustainability and arts.

Main Agenda Items

• Economic indicators: Unemployment rose to 4.7% (from 4.4%), matching Alameda County and below California overall. Job gains were concentrated in education and health services; losses in accommodation & food, manufacturing and some tech services.
• Hospitality & visitation: Berkeley led neighboring cities in hotel occupancy and ranked second in average daily rate (~$190); ~1.6M overnight visitors in 2025; Transient Occupancy Tax > $8.3M.
• Innovation/startups: ~370 mapped innovation firms citywide; software and life sciences are top sectors. 88 firms raised ~$1.5B in VC (driven by several large deals). UC Berkeley I&E programs estimated to have generated ~180 campus‑affiliated startups located in the city.
• Commercial real estate: Life‑science lab vacancy high (51.6%), driven by large new supply (e.g., Berkeley Commons ~540k sf) and broader regional trends. Downtown office availability lower than neighboring cities; ground‑floor vacancy citywide fell to ~6.3% (but some corridors saw increases). Downtown vacancy dropped below 10% for the first time since the pandemic.
• Housing and development: ~1,600–1,700 housing units entitled in 2025, concentrated downtown and near campus; median single‑family price ~$1.265M (Dec 2025).
• OED programs and operations: Business stabilization/retention, commercial corridor support, hospitality promotion, and innovation/talent pipeline. Programs highlighted: Berkeley Bucks, Discovered in Berkeley marketing, small business loan funds (25 active loans, ~$1M outstanding), partnership with Working Solutions to transfer one loan program, Green Business certifications, civic arts grants and workforce tours.
• Permitting and zoning: Staff reported zoning changes expanding allowed R&D uses and noted remaining permitting/process reputation issues that can push tenants to neighboring cities. Identified gaps in mid‑size commercial space (5–15k sf) for companies scaling beyond incubators.
• Vacancy activation and placemaking: OED developing a vacancy toolkit (murals, vinyl art, activation pilots) to improve corridor perceptions without penalizing owners.
• Public comment and council concerns: Downtown Berkeley Association and others praised OED work but raised concerns about visible safety/street‑behavior incidents at BART Plaza affecting daytime commerce and perceptions; parking and public‑safety perception issues were cited as factors impacting business vitality.

Decisions Made

• No formal votes recorded. Agreed operational actions and next steps:
  • OED to continue monitoring hospitality/hotel dynamics and life‑science leasing; maintain collaboration with Visit Berkeley, UC Berkeley and local partners.
  • Implement Working Solutions takeover of one city loan program and continue revolving loan funds with technical assistance.
  • Advance the vacant storefronts initiative and return to Council later in spring with a vacancy toolkit/policy and creative activation pilots (murals, window treatments).
  • Improve Berkeley Bucks merchant training and acceptance with Visit Berkeley; continue merchant outreach and business education.
  • Continue tracking openings/closings and strengthen exit/succession outreach and data collection.
  • Explore a branded fast‑track permitting/incentive program, seek funding for a targeted business‑attraction campaign (market research/market testing), and pursue personalized outreach with council and mayor assistance. Councilmembers volunteered to participate in recruitment outreach.