Business View Magazine | September 2019

189 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2019 passenger rail service to Antioch just over a year ago, thus providing a direct transit connection to parts of the Bay Area including the San Francisco and Oakland International airports. And there’s probably room for a couple of thousand more residential units on the south side of town that haven’t been developed yet. So, we have some room for expansion within our current City limits.” That new BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station, plus a recent widening of Highway 4 through the City, has opened up even more area for development. “The BART system was extended ten miles into Antioch and we’re now the end of the line to the east,” says Bernal. “About $1.3 billion was spent widening the highway through the center of our City and building the BART extension. And where the BART extension terminates, there’s 200 acres that has a specific plan for 2.5 million square feet of retail and office, and 2,500 units of, primarily, multi-family housing. The project is considered a TOD, a Transit Oriented Development. We see that as a place that will see some growth. And that’s part of the whole opportunity theme. We’re probably one of the most affordable places to buy a house, start a business, or expand a business in Contra Costa County and in the whole Bay area. If somebody is priced out of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, or Hayward, they can move their way to the east and find affordable places to live and start or expand a business.” The City is also looking to revitalize its downtown with more commercial, retail, and residential development. “The downtown was established back in 1850,” says Reed. “Unfortunately, over time, growth has happened in other areas away from downtown and the river. And like most older cities, the creation of a highway or freeway pulled development away from the historic downtowns. But there’s opportunity there for smaller shop owners to come and get a footprint.” Bernal adds, “We’ve been trying to attract multi-family developers to downtown in order to re-energize it. A restaurateur just opened a really nice restaurant in our marina, which is attracting a lot of positive Delta Diablo is a California special district providing award-winning water resource recovery services to residents and businesses in Antioch, Pittsburg and Bay Point. We are a community partner supporting economic development and protecting the environment with cost-effective wastewater conveyance and treatment services. www.deltadiablo.org ANT IOCH , CAL I FORNI A