Put a name on every empty building

Keep a public list of empty space at Hacienda Business Park, Stoneridge Shopping Center, and downtown. Show the owner, how long it has been empty, and when the city last made contact. The City Council should review that list every three months.

Staff the job of finding tenants

Fill and keep the Economic Development Manager position. Measure that work by signed leases and occupied space. That person should call brokers and company real estate teams every week and walk serious tenants through city processes and any state programs they may qualify for.

Work with business leaders who already live in Pleasanton

Many residents here run companies or sit on company boards. Ask them for introductions to the people who decide where teams sit. A small group of those residents should meet monthly with the mayor, the District 1 councilmember, and city staff so Pleasanton is in the room when a company looks at the East Bay.

Bring regional offices to Pleasanton

Ask large companies for a local office of 50 to 200 people. A floor or two in Hacienda, a few days a week. East Bay employees should be able to reach a desk by 8:40 instead of spending two hours on the freeway to San Francisco or the South Bay.

Turn empty floors into usable suites

Most new leases in Hacienda are small. Make it easier to divide a floor into suites and open in 60 to 90 days. Use existing zoning so labs and modern companies can occupy older office buildings. Extend fee deferral tools the city already uses for some restaurants, including sewer and connection fees, to qualifying office and lab build-outs in the business parks.

Rebuild Stoneridge Shopping Center as a growth site

Work with the mall owner on a reuse plan that brings more activity and more sales tax revenue for the city. If new homes are part of that plan, they belong on the mall property, not on Main Street.

Where new roads, parking, or utilities are required, use lawful tools such as an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD). That can apply future extra property tax from new value to those improvements so the bill is not dropped on current residents. For a store that will ring a register in Pleasanton, consider limited sales tax sharing only when those sales would not happen here otherwise.

Keep downtown as downtown

Fill empty storefronts with local shops and restaurants. Housing belongs at sites already identified for growth, such as Stoneridge, not on Main Street. Press the Pleasanton Downtown Association (PDA) to include downtown property owners at the table, not only the shopkeepers.

Use the city's Downtown Design Assistance Loan so owners can improve a facade or an empty bay. Walk Main Street with owners, shopkeepers, and the PDA until each empty space has a tenant and a date.

Shorten the city's wait time

Hold one meeting with Planning, Building, and Fire before a tenant signs a lease. Publish a 60 to 90 day path for a normal store or office to open. Treat tenant improvements at Hacienda, Stoneridge, and downtown as a fast-track priority so businesses are not lost to neighboring cities.

Use state programs when a real company is ready

Help ready employers apply for state job creation tax credits, including the California Competes Tax Credit through the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). Point lab and product firms to the state's research and development tax credit. Pair those applications with faster city permits and fee deferral so opening in Pleasanton is practical.

Tie every filled floor to the city budget

Report new occupied space next to the city's shortfall. Filling Hacienda and rebuilding Stoneridge is how we support police, fire, libraries, and parks without a new tax on families.