First there are the public projects. At Martin Luther King Jr. and Addison Way, the new public safety building is near completion. A block away, city hall is being seismically retrofit, while across the street, Berkeley High School begins its next major building project. Around the corner, the main library is undergoing seismic repair and expansion. On Addison, the Berkeley Repertory Theatre is building a second stage, the cornerstone of a planned downtown Arts District.
Commercial projects are also in varying stages of development.
At Shattuck and Center, the newly constructed Kaplan building has emerged from its scaffolding. On Center Street, Centro Caffe has opened, further enhancing the street's ambience of sidewalk cafes and shops. Construction staging on Allston Way blocks through traffic as two new projects add housing and cultural uses to the downtown. And even more projects are in the planning and design stages. Through local bond funds, Berkeley has improved and seismically strengthened its public schools, libraries, fire stations, and city hall.