THE STREETS OF BRENTWOOD outdoor shopping mall will welcome new tenants in the near future as part of its renovation plans.
The commercial real estate company CenterCal Properties, known for properties like the Veranda in Concord and Bay Street in Emeryville, purchased the property in late 2024 with their capital partner Heitman. The development includes three new buildings totaling 8,154 square feet and adds a newly imagined outdoor community center named The Patio to the 360,000-square-foot mall.
The Patio is an outdoor lawn area that will be utilized for community events. The renovated central plaza will also include Handel’s Ice Cream and a relocated Vine + Grain cocktail bar. CenterCal Properties Vice President of Development Scott Bohrer told The Brentwood Press in July that The Patio and other plaza improvements would be finished before the holiday season of 2025. But the renovated plaza faced delays and is now set to open this spring.
CenterCal Properties Marketing Manager Dana DuRee said the goals of renovating the 15-year-old property are to create a destination that resonates with the community and bring life to an area that she describes as previously being dormant. DuRee said she hopes to see families, friends and neighbors coming together to create memories, especially at The Patio gathering space.
But construction is still ongoing, creating inconveniences for visitors of The Streets of Brentwood and locals.
“Why am I going through a maze just to get to the other side of the mall? That’s stupid,” said a frustrated Sophie Alexander, an 11th grader at Brentwood’s Liberty High School.
The comparison to a maze is surprisingly apt in this context. The construction taking place in the center of The Streets of Brentwood forces those interested in going from one store to another on the other side of the mall to walk around the site, sometimes requiring people to walk through long, out-of-the-way passages between separate construction sites.
Inconvenient but necessary
Despite some frustration, there’s still understanding of the construction’s necessity in improving visitors’ experience.
“It takes a minute to find parking because you have to go all the way around if you want to get to the other side of that main area where Hollister and the movie theater is, but other than that, it really hasn’t affected me much,” Liberty High 11th grader Giselle Del Castillo said. “It’s necessary for improvements to The Streets of Brentwood.”
Last spring, CenterCal Properties displayed their concepts for the redesigned Streets of Brentwood, featuring three new buildings which were approved by the Brentwood Planning Commission on April 1, 2025. Two of the new buildings will be located in the outdoor mall’s central plaza, and the other next to the AMC theater, opposite the building that formerly housed Mels Diner and Caffe Paradiso.
A groundbreaking ceremony took place on July 15, 2025, featuring members of The Streets of Brentwood management team, CenterCal Properties, and the city of Brentwood.
“CenterCal, when we heard that you were moving in … we were so excited,” Brentwood Mayor Susannah Meyer said at the ceremony, as seen in a video uploaded to CenterCal’s YouTube channel. “We want people to come together and have community. We want people to bring their families. We want people to sing and dance in The Streets.”
The Streets of Brentwood have announced multiple new tenants coming to the mall, including Slice House pizza, a Pandora jewelry store, American Eagle clothing, a Face Foundrié facial bar, and Lovesac furniture.
“These initial tenant announcements are representative of the refreshed merchandising mix coming to The Streets of Brentwood, with a focus on contemporary brands to complement the reimagined site amenities and placemaking improvements,” Bohrer said in the news release.
Last year was an eventful one for The Streets of Brentwood. Barnes & Noble opened a location at the outdoor mall on Jan. 29, 2025, relocating from their location in Antioch. More recently, a Dutch Bros Coffee opened after months of construction. Future plans for The Streets of Brentwood area include a Sutter Health medical office campus and a dual-branded La Quinta/Hawthorn Suites hotel.
“Great retail destinations are also great locations for offices, hotels, and residential projects, creating a true urban fabric for people to live, work, and play,” DuRee said.
Creating community spaces
CenterCal Properties has been working in California and other states since 2004. Since its founding, the company has focused on building strong community spaces. They’re known in the Bay Area for Concord’s The Veranda, a popular outdoor mall featuring the Veranda LUXE Cinema, Mikuni, and Dave & Buster’s, and Emeryville’s Bay Street, an example of the company renovating preexisting property with their community-centered focus similar to The Streets of Brentwood. Bay Street’s defining tenants include an AMC theater, Barnes & Noble, and an Apple store.
“While we typically build projects from the ground up, The Streets of Brentwood represented a unique opportunity where the value of what had been built had never been fully realized,” DuRee said.
The Streets of Brentwood serves as a common shopping destination for residents of Brentwood, especially local teens, who can often be found at the mall when not at home or school.
“There’s nowhere for us to hang out really,” Alexander said. “People don’t want us around, and so The Streets is one of those places where we can hang around.”
Many teens remain excited about the new developments coming to The Streets of Brentwood, while hoping for what may come in the future. Some teens said they would like to see more food options, cheaper shopping, such as a thrift store, and even higher pricing options like an antique store. While they’re hopeful for what may come in the future, teens are also appreciative for the variety of experiences The Streets of Brentwood offers right now.
“There’s nowhere for us to hang out really. People don’t want us around, and so The Streets is one of those places where we can hang around.”
Sophie Alexander, Liberty High School junior
“What I love most about The Streets is how there’s a bunch of things to do, like you can go shopping for a while, and then you can go to the movie theater and watch a movie, or you can go to BJ’s and eat a fancy meal, you know?” Liberty High 11th grader Alyssa Huffmaster said. “There’s so many options: book stores, clothing stores, perfume stores. I love it all.”
With community coming first in redevelopment plans, as seen in plans like that for The Patio, The Streets of Brentwood have promise to continue to evolve as a place to shop, dine, and spend time with friends.
When asked what The Streets of Brentwood means to teens in Brentwood, Del Castillo said, “I think it means memories of hanging out with your friends. Anytime I go there, it’s always with my friends to hang out, and it’s always really fun.”
Julian Reynoso is an 11th grader at Liberty High School in Brentwood and a CCYJ reporter. He is a layout editor of the school’s newspaper, The Lion’s Roar.
This story originally appeared in CCSpin.