Commercial Real Estate in Salinas: Retail, Thoroughfare and Industrial Zones, Plus the Central City Overlay

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

Salinas is the county seat and the commercial center of the Salinas Valley. Its commercial property runs from the Main Street storefronts of Oldtown to the North Main Street and Market Street arterials, the Highway 101 frontage, and the packing, cooling and distribution buildings on the industrial east and south sides. The zoning code is detailed and changes often, so confirm the district and any overlay for each parcel with the City’s Planning Division before you rely on this page.

Who controls the parcel

Inside city limits, Chapter 37 of the Salinas Municipal Code controls land use. The edition we reviewed was updated October 24, 2026. Chapter 37 has base districts (agricultural, residential, commercial, mixed use, industrial, parks, public and New Urbanism) plus seven overlays: Flood, Specific Plan, Gateway, Focused Growth, Central City, East Romie Lane Corridor and Airport. Where an overlay conflicts with the base district, the overlay controls.

Some properties with Salinas mailing addresses are outside the city, in Boronda, Spreckels, Chualar or the Prunedale area. Those parcels follow Monterey County’s inland zoning in Title 21. See our Monterey County commercial guide. Land at the city’s edge may also be part of a pending annexation, and Chapter 37 has its own annexation procedures.

Salinas zoning for commercial, industrial and mixed use

Use permissions and standards below come from the commercial, mixed use and industrial divisions of Chapter 37.

Three details trip up buyers. In MAF and MX, residential use may take no more than a quarter of a mixed-use building’s ground-floor area unless the city planner approves otherwise. In all three industrial districts, accessory retail, including wine tasting, is capped at 30% of floor area or 2,500 square feet, whichever is less. And limited warehousing needs a conditional use permit in every industrial district. That permit cannot be approved administratively and needs five Planning Commission votes.

Downtown: the Central City overlay

The Central City overlay covers two areas, the Downtown Core and the Downtown Neighborhood. Its stated aims are denser mixed-use and office development, infill housing, walkable corridors and live entertainment downtown.

• Intensity. In the Downtown Core, nonresidential FAR rises to 3.0 on PS, CO and CR land and to 4.0 on MX land. Heights follow a map figure in the code. In the Downtown Neighborhood, buildings top out at 50 feet. MX parcels within 2,500 feet of the Intermodal Transit Center can reach 80 units per net acre and 60 feet with a use permit.
• Main Street frontage. Ground-floor housing facing Main Street is not allowed, apart from lobbies and similar access. Clubs and lodges must be above the ground floor. Curb cuts on Main Street are prohibited, and parking structures cannot go on Main Street parcels.
• Live entertainment. An enclosed venue can host entertainment as an accessory use without a CUP if it meets the code’s conditions. These include no cover charge, limited hours and a 65-decibel limit at the property line.
• Existing buildings. A building is not nonconforming just because it lacks parking, as long as existing spaces are not removed. Small additions and remodels can be exempted from overlay standards by the city planner.

Other Salinas rules that shape a deal

• Airport overlay. Land near Salinas Municipal Airport falls in the AR overlay, which can limit height and the types of use allowed. Confirm with Planning for any east-side industrial site.
• Flood overlay. Parcels in the F overlay need floodplain review before construction.
• Alcohol. Bars need a CUP in CR and CT, and alcohol sales carry extra review under the use-table notes.
• Freeway convenience stores. In CT, these are limited to 3,500 square feet.
• Cannabis. The City has a separate cannabis business tax in Chapter 19A. Confirm the current permit rules and eligible zones with the City before signing a lease.

Transfer tax, business tax and property tax

Monterey County collects the documentary transfer tax when a deed records. We did not find a separate Salinas city transfer tax in the code index, but confirm the charge on your escrow estimate.

Salinas’s business license tax is in Chapter 19, Article II. Retail and general businesses pay by gross receipts bracket, starting at $25 for receipts under $25,000. The top bracket is $1,000 plus $100 for each $100,000 over $1 million. Wholesalers, contractors and professionals pay flat amounts, and motels pay by room count. Owners renting four or more residential units on one parcel pay a per-unit tax under Section 19-35.1, so a mixed-use building with apartments may owe it. A sale generally triggers Proposition 13 reassessment, so model taxes on the purchase price.

Due diligence that matters in Salinas

Start with our commercial due diligence checklist, then add:

• Confirm the base district and every overlay (CC, G, FG, ERL, AR, F) on the City’s zoning map.
• For a warehouse or cold-storage buyer, confirm whether the planned use is "limited warehousing" needing a CUP, or wholesale distribution allowed by site plan review.
• Check accessory retail or tasting-room area against the 30% / 2,500 sq ft cap in the industrial zones.
• Downtown, review Main Street frontage rules before planning ground-floor housing or a parking structure.
• Confirm business license classification and any cannabis tax exposure for the tenant.
• If the building has four or more apartments, check the rental registration and rent rules covered on our Salinas multifamily page.
• Confirm whether the parcel is in the city or in unincorporated County land.

Questions people ask

Sources & notes

1. Salinas Municipal Code Chapter 37, Zoning (table of contents) (GoCodebook, updated October 24, 2026)
2. Chapter 37, Article III Division 3, Commercial Districts
3. Chapter 37, Article III Division 4, Mixed Use Districts
4. Chapter 37, Article III Division 5, Industrial Districts
5. Chapter 37, Article IV Division 5, Central City Overlay
6. Chapter 19, Article II, License Tax Rates
7. Chapter 19A, Cannabis Business Tax (index only)

Note: Code text was truncated in places, so FAR and density figures for MAF and MX were not confirmed. We did not review the Airport, Gateway, Focused Growth or East Romie Lane overlay text, the cannabis permit chapter, or the County’s transfer tax schedule.

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

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