Current Projects

Excelsior Community Benefit District Formation - 2009
To see a copy of the Excelsior CBD Management District Plan, click here (PDF).

Oakland's Temescal and KoreaTown/Northgate districts
Urban Transformation is currently providing business district management services including organizational support and general administration while overseeing public and streetscape improvements, cleanliness and security programs, retail and special events and business retention and attraction activities in two Oakland districts, Temescal since 2004 and KoreaTown since 2007. Guided by strong community and implementation of "CPTED" strategies, Temescal has emerged as one of Oakland's trendiest neighborhoods, claiming some of the San Francisco Bay Area's best eateries.

Recent Projects

Client: City of Albany, CA
Devised strategies and actions for strengthening the Albany economy, specifically of its Solano and San Pablo Avenue commercial hubs, utilizing the comprehensive Main Street™ approach.

Huntington Park Downtown Strategic Plan
Client: The City of Huntington Park
Urban Transformation and Eichenfield & Associates just completed Huntington Park's Downtown Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan will be an economic development tool that documents downtown's competitive position in the marketplace and identifies short and long-term strategies that will help maintain and strengthen the vitality of downtown and its Business Improvement District program. Developing the plan involved extensive public input in the form of focus group interviews, merchant interviews, public meetings, a shopper survey and formal visioning sessions with the City's Downtown Task Force.  Recommended activities include those in the areas of downtown management and organization, beautification and public amenities, promotion and marketing, economics and business mix, cleanliness and security, and parking and transportation.

Fruitvale Main Street Program
Client: Unity Council
Darlene Rios Drapkin began implementing Fruitvale's commercial revitalization program in 1996.  Her first priority was to help the community develop a consensus vision for what role the district would play in the marketplace.  Recognizing that the area was rich with Latino culture and buying power, Darlene led the education of Latinos, Asian and Middle Eastern business owners on the benefits of target marketing to this audience.  Darlene galvanized dozens of stakeholders to agree on the commercial district's revitalization efforts. The result was a clear mission statement for "ethnically and culturally diverse groups of people working together, responding to a regional Latino oriented market and creating a thriving bustling shopping area that is safe, clean and green."

Addressing Crime & Grime Effectively on Main Street
Clients: LISC Detroit Partnership Academy, City of San Jose, DC Main Streets, Oakland's San Antonio district
Through an interactive workshop, Urban Transformation has worked with these programs to distinguish and work with the perceptions versus the realities of crime in their neighborhoods.  Stakeholders have learned about interfacing effectively with City agencies, Police, Public Works, and Code Enforcement and about organizing and educating the community to maximize results.