Orinda will pay for storefront work while downtown fills back in

Orinda is running a one-year pilot that pays commercial property owners and tenants to fix up their storefronts. It started July 1 and runs through June 30, 2027, on a $75,000 budget.

The terms are on the city's program page. A project costing up to $10,000 can be funded in full, with no match required. Above that, the city funds the first $10,000 and half of the additional eligible costs, to a maximum city grant of $30,000. Eligible work includes new signage, awnings, exterior paint, storefront upgrades, lighting, landscaping, accessibility improvements and permanent outdoor dining features.

The other half of the offer is speed. An approved facade project is exempt from Planning Commission design review and does not need a sign permit, an outdoor dining permit or a tree removal permit. City permit fees are waived, though building and encroachment permits may still apply.

The process runs in steps: an interest form, a meeting with city staff, a formal application with designs and a budget, an agreement, then the work — typically within 180 days — and receipts for reimbursement. Improvements have to be maintained for at least five years. Questions go to Cole Haselip, assistant to the city manager, at chaselip@cityoforinda.gov.

The money lands in a downtown that is refilling slowly, and the state's liquor license records are the clearest public measure of where things stand.

The largest project is CreekHaus, in the former bank building at 31 Orinda Way. CreekHaus LLC has had two on-sale general eating place licenses pending with the department since Sept. 24, 2025, and the record carries a hold of type "under construction (Sect. 24044)" dated July 6, 2026. The project's own site names its pieces: Equator Coffees, a beer garden with PizzaHacker, a bistro with cocktails, and an event space for live music and programming. No opening date is posted.

At Theatre Square, Sorso holds an active on-sale general license at Suite 106 and has posted its own opening date this month. Two arrivals on Moraga Way keep their own pages: Nine Tailed Fox at 41 Moraga Way, a boba and bubble waffle shop opened by a Miramonte graduate, open noon to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday; and 8Moose Pizzeria at 76 Moraga Way, open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, at 510-775-3629.

Shemroon Cafe and Lamorinda Atelier are both listed in the Theatre Square tenant directory, the cafe with hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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