Commercial Real Estate in Orinda: Downtown Districts, Ground-Floor Space Types and the 2025 Rezoning

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

Orinda’s commercial land is almost all downtown, in two clusters on either side of State Route 24 and the Orinda BART station. The Theatre Square and Crossroads side lies to the south, and Orinda Village lies along Orinda Way to the north. The rest of the city is residential hills and open space. The city rezoned parts of downtown for housing in late 2025, so confirm the current district, ground-floor space type and permit path with the Orinda Planning Department before you buy or sign a lease.

Who controls the parcel

The City of Orinda zones land inside city limits under Title 17, Zoning. All of the city’s commercial districts are in Chapter 17.8, Downtown Districts. Other land is residential, public and semi-public, park, open space, planned development or specific plan. Several citywide chapters reach commercial property:

• Design review
• The commercial use permit
• View preservation
• Heritage trees
• Historic landmarks
• The ridgeline and environmental preservation overlay
• Noise control

The Planning Commission, not staff, decides commercial use permits. Water, sewer and fire service come from separate districts.

Orinda zoning for commercial and mixed use

Orinda has no industrial district. Manufacturing is limited to an ancillary use in medical and dental offices in DO. Light industrial users will need to look in Concord, Martinez or other East Bay cities.

Ground-floor space types downtown

Orinda’s downtown rules turn on the type of ground-floor space, not just the district. Section 17.8.5 maps Type I, II and III space by street and sorts uses into three classes:

• Class A (retail and restaurants) is allowed in every space type.
• Class B (personal services) is allowed by right in Type II and III space. It needs a commercial use permit in Type I space.
• Class C (offices) is allowed by right in Type III space and needs a commercial use permit in Type II. It is not allowed in Type I space at all.

Any downtown use operating before 5 a.m. or after 11 p.m. also needs a commercial use permit. In practice, a salon or real estate office cannot simply take a vacant Type I storefront. Before you price a lease-up, confirm the space type for each suite.

Commercial use permit findings. Under Chapter 17.36, the Planning Commission must find the use meets eight standards after a noticed hearing. Among them: it must avoid undue concentration of similar uses and support a walkable village feel. It must also be scaled like a traditional Main Street and have adequate parking. A parking variance can be paired with an in-lieu fee. The Commission can add conditions, including time limits, and can revoke a permit for a nuisance.

New buildings. In DC, new construction, additions and replacement buildings need a use permit, while ordinary tenant improvements do not. The district also sets a minimum lot coverage of 50% and caps site landscaping at 20%. Those rules push buildings toward the sidewalk.

The 2025 downtown rezoning

Ordinance 25-05, adopted November 3, 2025, added three districts to Chapter 17.8:

• DCOR-30 and DCOR-55. These keep DC’s ground-floor retail uses and allow multifamily housing by right, but only in Type II and Type III space. Up to 30% of a Type I frontage may hold residential lobbies, access or amenities. Density must fall between 20 and 30 units per acre in DCOR-30, or 20 and 55 in DCOR-55.
• DG. This keeps DO’s office uses and allows multifamily by right at 20 to 25 units per acre.

When a project in these districts includes housing, the city’s Objective Design Standards dated September 29, 2025 apply. Vertical mixed use is the default. For an owner of an older one-story downtown building, these districts can turn a retail site into a redevelopment site. The minimum densities also mean a low-density project may not conform.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

The Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder collects the county documentary transfer tax of $0.55 per $500. Orinda’s Chapter 3.08 imposes a city tax of $0.275 per $500 under the state transfer tax law, which the County Recorder administers. The Recorder lists added city taxes only for Richmond and El Cerrito, so the city share appears to fall within the county total. Confirm with escrow. Title 3 also includes a transient occupancy tax, a transactions and use tax and a library parcel tax. Business licenses are in Title 5, and we did not verify their rates. A sale is generally a Proposition 13 change of ownership.

Due diligence that matters in Orinda

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

• Confirm the district, including whether the parcel was rezoned to DCOR-30, DCOR-55 or DG in 2025.
• Map the Type I, II or III status of every ground-floor suite before you sign office or service tenants.
• Budget for Planning Commission hearings on commercial use permits.
• Check parking under Chapter 17.16 and whether an in-lieu fee or variance is needed.
• For redevelopment, test the project against the minimum densities and the 2025 Objective Design Standards.
• Check view preservation, heritage tree and creek rules on sloped or wooded sites.

Questions people ask

Sources & notes

1. Orinda Municipal Code Title 17, Zoning (GoCodebook, October 2026 edition): Chapter 17.8 and Chapter 17.36
2. Orinda Title 3, Revenue and Finance and Chapter 3.08
3. Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder, Documentary Transfer Tax

Note: The street-by-street space type map, the Objective Design Standards, the Section 17.8.5.G use list, parking ratios and business license rates were not reviewed.

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

Related: Orinda real estate guide · Multifamily property in Orinda · Commercial real estate services