Presenters: City of Berkeley Economic Development (OED) staff
Please join us for a presentation on the new Manufacturing-research & Development zoning for West Berkeley. OED staff will present the Keep Innovation in Berkeley zoning amendments that were approved by City Council in December 2024, and the new Manufacturing - Research and Development zoning at the former Pacific Steel site that was approved by Council on March 25, 2025. Both of these efforts follow the updated zoning definition of R&D that Council approved in 2022.
These zoning changes are, in large part, a result of the feedback that OED has received from the innovation ecosystem stakeholders in the City-supported network, the Berkeley Startup Cluster, and help tee up further opportunities for UC/City collaboration for innovation. (The Berkeley Startup Cluster is a public-private-academic partnership between the University of California-Berkeley, City of Berkeley, Berkeley Lab, Downtown Berkeley Association and Berkeley Chamber.) UC Berkeley now launches more venture-backed startups than any other university in the world, surpassing Stanford two years ago. The campus’ efforts to support innovation and entrepreneurship have brought billions of dollars in equity investments into local startups that are creating jobs, generating tax revenue, supporting local retailers, restaurants and professional services businesses, and creating groundbreaking solutions to address global health issues and climate change.
The R&D sector presents Berkeley with a new local employment path for the future. Of these jobs, 15-25% of them are generally available to people without advanced degrees, providing a much broader range of employment opportunity then the tech sector jobs that came out of the 1990’s-2010’s. These jobs will also reduce Berkeley’s daily out-commute by making it possible for people who are commuting to the South Bay and West Bay (SF, Burlingame, etc…) to stay in Berkeley for the same jobs.
Location: AIA East Bay Conference Room, Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way #310, Berkeley, CA 94709.
Many thanks to AIA East Bay for hosting this event!