Commercial Real Estate in Brentwood: Downtown, Brentwood Boulevard, PA-1 and Industrial Zoning

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Brentwood’s commercial property falls into a few clear places. There is the historic downtown, the old State Route 4 corridor now called Brentwood Boulevard, the Priority Area 1 employment district, and the shopping centers and light industrial pockets spread through a city that grew quickly out of farmland. Much of the city is regulated by specific plans and planned development (PD) zones rather than base zoning, so confirm the governing document for any parcel with the City of Brentwood before you write an offer.

Who controls the parcel

The City of Brentwood zones land inside city limits under Title 17 of the Brentwood Municipal Code. Outside the city, in Knightsen, Byron, Discovery Bay and the farmland around them, Contra Costa County controls zoning. Many rural parcels carry a Brentwood mailing address but sit in unincorporated territory. The city’s sewer and water rules are in Titles 13 and 14 of the municipal code, so ask which provider serves an edge parcel before you assume city utilities.

A large share of Brentwood is zoned into numbered PD districts. Title 17 runs from PD-1 through PD-72 (Chapters 17.451 to 17.522), each with its own permitted uses and standards. A commercial center inside a PD zone follows that PD chapter, not the C-1 or C-2 rules below.

Brentwood zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

Under Section 17.200.005, each office and commercial zone has a minimum zone size. That signals the scale the city expects for each district.

District	Intended uses	Notes
CO Administrative/Professional Office	Professional and administrative offices	New zone at least 5 acres
COB Commercial Office/Business	Office and business uses	New zone at least 1 acre
COR Commercial Office Residential	Office with residential	New zone at least ½ acre
CR Commercial Residential	Commercial with residential	New zone at least 5 acres
C-1 Neighborhood Commercial	Neighborhood shopping	New zone at least 5 acres
C-2 General Commercial	General retail, offices, banks, personal services	7,500 sq ft lots, two stories and 30 ft. Restaurants, liquor sales, medical offices, auto repair and drive-throughs need a conditional use permit. New zone at least 10 acres
C-3 Thoroughfare Commercial	Highway- and arterial-oriented commercial	New zone at least 2 acres
DT Downtown	Governed by the Downtown Specific Plan	See below
BB Brentwood Boulevard	Governed by the Brentwood Boulevard Specific Plan	See below
PA-1 Priority Area One	Governed by the PA-1 Specific Plan	See below
IC Industrial/Commercial	Light industry, contractor yards, printing, auto repair, cabinet and upholstery shops	20,000 sq ft lots. Food manufacturing, metal fabrication and self-storage need a conditional use permit
PEC Planned Employment Center	Business and research parks, corporate campuses, office, some commercial	No development until a specific plan is adopted

The general commercial standards require a masonry wall at least six feet high where a commercial lot abuts residential or other noncommercial zoning. Open storage or display is banned unless a zone expressly allows it. Lighting glare may not exceed half a foot-candle at the lot line.

Downtown, Brentwood Boulevard and Priority Area 1

Downtown. Under Chapter 17.280, the Downtown Specific Plan is the main tool for land use and development in the DT zone. It controls when it conflicts with other planning documents. New construction, substantial changes and changes of use are reviewed for conformance with the plan. The plan’s draft EIR, filed on CEQAnet in July 2005, describes about 205 acres near Brentwood Boulevard, State Route 4 and Balfour Road. It anticipated residential and mixed-use office and retail, a multi-screen theater, a parking structure and an eBART station location. Outdoor dining and merchandise displays downtown have their own standards in Chapter 17.900.

Brentwood Boulevard. Chapter 17.290 covers the former State Route 4 between Delta Road and Second Street. The goal is to turn an auto-oriented strip into a traditional boulevard, with buildings facing the street and wide landscaped walkways. The Brentwood Boulevard Specific Plan governs, except that the city’s drive-through chapter (17.655) prevails where the two conflict. That matters for fast-food and coffee pad buyers.

Priority Area 1. Chapter 17.295 sets up PA-1 as a compact, transit-oriented employment center planned over roughly 20 to 25 years. Uses and standards come from the PA-1 Specific Plan, which the city keeps on file and posts online. Confirm the latest PA-1 amendments with the city, because the plan has been revised since adoption.

Industrial, employment land and other local rules

IC zone. The IC zone applies to established industrial and service commercial areas and to undeveloped parcels near downtown. Next to residential zoning, buildings are limited to one story and 20 feet unless a conditional use permit allows two stories. Chapter 17.300 requires manufacturing indoors. Open storage must be screened by a fence at least six feet high, and screening visible from a street must be masonry.

PEC zone. Employment uses must cover at least 51% of a PEC specific plan area. Housing is capped on a sliding scale by acreage. A plan under 75 gross acres gets no residential share, a 100- to 124-acre plan gets up to 18%, and a plan of 200 acres or more gets up to 49%. A developer can ask the city to prepare the specific plan at the developer’s cost.

Other uses. Motels, adult businesses, drive-throughs and self-storage each have their own chapters in Title 17. Short-term rentals of dwellings for 30 days or less are prohibited under Chapter 17.796, so a mixed-use building cannot plan on nightly rental income from its apartments.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

The Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder charges the county documentary transfer tax of $0.55 per $500 of value. The Recorder posts separate city taxes only for Richmond and El Cerrito, and we found no Brentwood city transfer tax. Brentwood’s business tax certification rules, including an article on tax amounts, are in Chapter 5.04 of the municipal code. We did not verify the current rates or whether leasing a building counts as a taxable business, so ask the city’s finance staff. A sale is generally a Proposition 13 change of ownership, so expect reassessment, and check for Mello-Roos or assessment district levies, which are common in newer East County projects.

Due diligence that matters in Brentwood

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

Confirm the parcel is inside city limits and not unincorporated county.
Identify the controlling document: base zone, a numbered PD chapter, or the Downtown, Brentwood Boulevard or PA-1 specific plan.
For restaurants, bars, medical offices or drive-throughs in C-2, budget time for a conditional use permit.
In the IC zone, check whether the parcel abuts residential zoning, which cuts the height limit to one story.
Check the six-foot masonry wall, refuse enclosure and screening requirements on any redevelopment.
Confirm the business tax certificate and any special tax or assessment district on the bill.

Questions people ask

Is downtown Brentwood zoned by the regular commercial code?

No. The DT zone is governed by the Downtown Specific Plan, which replaces the base zoning rules and controls when other planning documents conflict with it.

Can I put a drive-through on Brentwood Boulevard?

Possibly. The Brentwood Boulevard Specific Plan governs the corridor, but the city’s drive-through chapter prevails over it. In C-2, a drive-through needs a conditional use permit.

What is the height limit in Brentwood’s C-2 zone?

Two stories and 30 feet. Taller buildings need a conditional use permit.

Can a PEC site include housing?

Only by specific plan and city approval. At least 51% of the area must be employment uses, and plans under 75 gross acres get no residential share.

Does Brentwood have its own transfer tax?

We found none. The Clerk-Recorder posts city transfer taxes only for Richmond and El Cerrito. The county tax of $0.55 per $500 applies.

Are short-term rentals allowed in a Brentwood mixed-use building?

No. The city prohibits renting a dwelling for 30 consecutive days or less.

Does Diamond handle commercial property in Brentwood?

Contact Matthew Martinez to discuss buying, selling or leasing commercial property in Brentwood.

Sources & notes

Note: The C-1, C-3, CO, COB, COR and CR use lists and the specific plans’ use tables were not opened. Confirm them with the Community Development Department. Business tax rates were not verified.

This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.

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