Union City City Council
June 9, 2026

June 9, 2026 | 5:00 PM Page 1 of 1
City Council
Special Study Session

NOTICE AND AGENDA

CITY OF UNION CITY

CITY COUNCIL

SPECIAL STUDY SESSION
GARY SINGH, Mayor
JAIME PATIÑO, Vice Mayor (District 2)
LANCE NISHIHIRA, Councilmember (District 1)
JEFF WANG, Councilmember (District 3)
SCOTT SAKAKIHARA, Councilmember (District 4)
Tuesday, June 9, 2026 | 5:00 PM
City Hall – City Council Conference Room
34009 Alvarado-Niles Road, Union City, CA 94587

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - Comments Limited to Items on the Special Study Session

4. STUDY SESSION

4.1. Review of Draft Economic Development Strategic Plan

5. ADJOURNMENT

CERTIFICATION OF MEETING NOTICE AND AGENDA POSTING
This notice and agenda were posted on the City's website and the City Hall bulletin board at least 24 hours prior to the special meeting date, in compliance with the Ralph M. Brown Act. /s/Thai Nam Pham, MMC, CPMC
City Clerk
City Council Staff Report Page 1 of 2 June 9, 2026
Staff Report
Agenda Item No. 4.1
DATE: June 9, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Joan Malloy, City Manager
SUBJECT: Review of Draft Economic Development Strategic Plan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of the Study Session is to provide the City Council an opportunity to review and provide feedback on the draft Economic Development Strategic Plan (“ED Strategic Plan”) (Attachment 1) and related performance measures/metrics.

STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
This agenda item is in alignment with:

Goal A, Strategy 1: Establish a comprehensive fiscal stability and sustainability plan to address the General Fund’s long-term structural deficit; and Goal C, Strategy 6: Update the Economic Development Strategic Plan to meet the City’s financial goals and build regional partnerships.

BACKGROUND
Strategic Economics Inc. (the “Consultant”) was retained to work with City staff and the City Council on the update to the ED Strategic Plan. The ED Strategic Plan is a policy document that will guide the City’s economic development activities over the next five years.

The draft ED Strategic Plan establishes a clear vision and goals for the City while providing a practical roadmap for directing staff time and resources toward achieving that vision. The ED Strategic Plan equips the City Council with a framework for prioritizing initiatives.

On Thursday, March 19, 2026, the Economic Development Advisory Team reviewed the draft ED Strategic Plan, which included an overview of the strategic planning process, goals, objectives, and strategies. EDAT members asked some clarifying questions, which were addressed in the current draft of the ED Strategic Plan. 2 of 88
Agenda Item No. 4.1
City Council Staff Report Page 2 of 2 June 9, 2026
Any feedback received will be addressed in the final draft that will be presented to the City Council for approval in the June/July timeframe.

DISCUSSION
The ED Strategic Plan includes four sections. Section I introduces the ED Strategic Plan and the process behind its development. Section II presents the data and analysis used to establish a comprehensive profile of Union City’s economic trends. Section III reflects the City’s strengths, opportunities, and challenges, based on both the quantitative analysis presented in Section II and input from multiple focus groups and stakeholder interviews. These interviews provided greater context and deeper insights into the data, helping define a framework for the Plan’s goals, objectives, and strategies presented in Section IV. Section IV also includes performance objectives and metrics to measure progress towards achieving the Plan’s goals, as well as a timeline for implementing the many individual strategies.

The Study Session will include an overview of the process to date; a summary of the ED Strategic Plan’s vision, goals, objectives, and strategies; and an overview of performance objectives to measure progress in achieving the Plan’s goals, including implementation timing. Staff will also provide an overview of additional Economic Development metrics for the City Council's consideration.

FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact on the General Fund associated with this item.

RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council review and provide feedback on the draft Economic Development Strategic Plan (“ED Strategic Plan”) (Attachment 1).

Prepared by: Gloria Ortega, Economic Development Manager Submitted by: Carmela Campbell, Economic and Community Development Director Attachments:

1. Economic Development Strategic Plan Report
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Attachment 1
1 Union City Economic Development
Strategic Plan

Prepared for:

City of Union City

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2 5 of 88
3 Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................3 TABLE OF FIGURES ...............................................................................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................7 Economic Development Vision....................................................................................................7 The City’s Role in Growing Union City’s Economy.......................................................................7 Union City’s Areas for Economic Growth and Change................................................................8 Report Contents ........................................................................................................................ 11 UNION CITY’S EXISTING ECONOMIC CONTEXT...........................................................................12 Regional Economic Context...................................................................................................... 12 Demographics/Resident Workforce......................................................................................... 12 Business and Employment Profile ........................................................................................... 15 Real Estate Market Conditions................................................................................................. 18 Union City’s Fiscal Health ......................................................................................................... 23 UNION CITY’S STRENGTHS, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES ............................................28 Strengths ........................................................................................................................................... 28 Challenges ......................................................................................................................................... 29 Opportunities..................................................................................................................................... 30 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES...................................................................................31 Goal 1: Sustain, Retain and Grow Union City’s Existing Businesses ............................................. 31 Goal 2: Attract New Businesses to Union City................................................................................. 32 Goal 3: Foster Investment in Union City’s Industrial and Commercial Areas................................ 33 Goal 4: TELL UNION CITY’S STORY OF SUCCESS ............................................................................ 35 Measuring the Plan’s Progress ........................................................................................................ 36 Reporting Metrics Process........................................................................................................ 36 Implementation Matrix.............................................................................................................. 36 6 of 88
4 Table of Figures
Figure 1: Union City Economic Focus Areas ............................................................................................ 10 Figure 2: Change in Population by Age Group in Union City and Alameda County, 2013-2023 ......... 13 Figure 3: Change in Highest Educational Attainment by Age Group for Union City and Alameda County (for population 25 years and older), 2013-2023 ................................................................................... 14 Figure 4: Real Median Household Income in Union City and Alameda County in 2023 U.S. Dollars, 2013-2023................................................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 5: Racial Composition of Union City and Alameda County, 2013-2023.................................... 15 Figure 6: Share of Jobs by Major Industry Sector in Union City and Alameda County, 2023 .............. 16 Figure 7: Percent Change in Employment by Industry Sector, 2013-2023 .......................................... 18 Figure 8: Real Estate Inventory by Property Type ................................................................................... 19 Figure 9: Industrial Inventory by Subarea ............................................................................................... 19 Figure 10: Industrial Vacancy Rates for Selected Jurisdictions, 2015-2025 ....................................... 20 Figure 11: Industrial Average Rents (NNN) for Selected Jurisdictions, 2015-2025 ............................ 20 Figure 12: Retail Inventory by Property Type in Union City..................................................................... 21 Figure 13: Retail Vacancy Rates for Selected Jurisdictions, 2015-2025 ............................................. 22 Figure 14: Retail Average Rents (NNN) for Selected Jurisdictions ........................................................ 22 Figure 15: Number of Tenants by Industry Category Occupying Manufacturing and Warehouse & Distribution Buildings in Union City, 2024 .............................................................................................. 23 Figure 16: Taxable Value and Acreage by Land Use, Fiscal Year 2023-2024...................................... 24 Figure 17: Growth in Total Assessed Values by Parcel Land Use, 2020-2024 .................................... 25 Figure 18: Combined Assessed Value of Properties Sold (Millions of USD) by Year Sold and Land Use (Millions of Dollars)................................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 19: Distribution of Bradley-Burns Sales Tax by Land Use, 2023 ............................................... 27 Figure 20: Property Tax and Sales Tax Revenue by Land Use, 2024.................................................... 27 Figure 21: Goal 1 Implementation Matrix ............................................................................................... 37 Figure 22: Goal 2 Implementation Matrix ............................................................................................... 39 Figure 23: Goal 3: Implementation Matrix .............................................................................................. 41 Figure 24: Goal 4: Implementation Matrix .............................................................................................. 43 7 of 88
5 Acknowledgements
City Council
Gary Singh Mayor
Jaime Patiño Vice Mayor, District 2
Lance Nishihara Councilmember, District 1
Jeff Wang Councilmember, District 3
Scott Sakakihara Councilmember, District 4

Economic Development Advisory Team
Gary Singh City Council Representative
Jeff Wang City Council Representative
Lee Guio Planning Commission Representative
Ignacio Romero Planning Commission Representative
Robert Singer Business Representative
Barry Ferrier
Asif Khan
Glenn Nate
At-Large Member
At-Large Member
Chamber of Commerce Representative
Cara Milgate Chamber of Commerce Representative
Focus Group Participants and Other Interviewees
Bob Ferraro CBRE
David Lee Azimuth
Samantha Hauser City Ventures
Kelly Nguyen City Ventures
Seamus Meagher GCM
John Pappas Pappas Investments
Andrew Love Portfolio Realty Management
John Love Portfolio Realty Management
Steven Tapia Portfolio Realty Management
Carol Therien Retail Pacific
Gary Fairhead Sigmatron
Sailesh Narain Mizuho OSI
Jed Craig Sywest
Ron Krietemeyer Tarlton
Faraz Ali Tenaya Therapeutics
Scott Bertch Tenaya Therapeutics
Fernando Cuebas TRI Commercial
Jina Kim USK
Andres Orphanopolous Woodstock Development
Kirk Syme Woodstock Development
Jessica Kane Union Square Marketplace
Lu Tipping Loyola Building
City Staff
Joan Malloy City Manager
Carmela Campbell Economic and Community Development Director 8 of 88
6 Gloria Ortega Economic Development Manager
Kyle Weddington Economic Development Coordinator
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7 Introduction
The Union City Economic Development Strategic Plan (“Strategic Plan”) is a policy document that will guide the City’s economic development activities over the next five years. Economic Development focuses on supporting and strengthening the City’s economy by working with local businesses, property owners, and developers as well as other public and non-profit organizations that are also focused on business attraction and expansion. These efforts are essential to supporting the City’s property and sales tax revenue streams, providing jobs for City residents, and enhancing the quality of life in Union City.

This Strategic Plan reflects extensive data analysis, input from multiple stakeholders and the City Council; incorporates and supports goals from other City plans, including the General Plan; and recalibrates the 2019 Economic Development Strategic Plan to ensure that Union City continues to build on its economic development successes, while incorporating new ideas or approaches to supporting the City’s economy, as economic conditions change.

The Strategic Plan provides an overarching vision and goals while also establishing a specific roadmap for allocating City staff time and resources towards achieving this vision. The Strategic Plan gives the City Council and City staff tools for prioritizing activities and provides metrics for measuring progress in the Plan’s execution. The combination of the vision, the implementation roadmap, and the performance metrics will facilitate transparent and ongoing communication between staff, the City Council, and the community.

Economic Development Vision
Although, an economic development strategic plan should be data driven, the plan also needs to reflect the community’s values and goals. This Vision is the cornerstone of the Plan and reflects extensive input from the City Council, the Union City Economic Development Advisory Team, and the many stakeholders focus group participants:

Union City is a great place to do business based on transparent and responsive government services. Union City is committed to retaining its existing businesses, attracting new businesses that include high wage jobs for Union City residents, and growing the City's revenues. Union City will continue offering clean and safe business districts and improving the quality of life of residents.

The City’s Role in Growing Union City’s Economy
Local economic development efforts address three priorities:
• Retain existing businesses and support business expansion efforts, • Attract new businesses, and
• Support efforts to increase sales tax generation and other revenue sources.

Union City’s existing economy reflects its business mix. The City’s businesses are also part of a larger economic ecosystem with goods, services and workers that flow into and out of Union City in ways that support the local economy and provide jobs for Union City’s residents National and global economic trends such as interest rates, tariffs, and inflation also have direct impacts on cities’ economies. In 10 of 88
8 Union City, successfully supporting and growing the local economy requires managing the City’s economic strengths and resources to support local businesses, while also looking for ways to capitalize on positive economic trends while also responding to economic challenges.

Union City’s Areas for Economic Growth and Change
Union City’s best economic development assets are the areas within the City where businesses are located. These locations reflect the City’s development history and land use pattern as established via City’s policies (i.e., General Plan, Specific Plan, Zoning Ordinance). Most of the City’s businesses are located in five industrial areas or in one of the City’s small, medium or large shopping areas/centers, including Union Landing, the City’s preeminent regional shopping center. There are several other areas that lack significant business activity today but represent important future opportunities for business attraction. These include the Historic Alvarado District and the Station District Core. Together, these industrial areas, shopping centers, the Historic Alvarado District, and the Station District Core represent the City’s economic focus areas as shown in Figure 1 and described in further detail below.

Industrial Areas. Union City has five distinct industrial districts that include over 16 million square feet of built space in a range of building types. Although there are retail businesses located in these areas, the most significant industries based on business type include manufacturing, wholesale trade, professional services, business services, life science, and construction.

Community and Local Serving Shopping Centers. As Figure 1 shows, Union City has several shopping centers/areas that comprise over 1.7 million square feet of space. Just over half of this is in Union Landing, which is further described below.

Station District Specific Plan and Subareas. This area encompasses approximately 471 acres, which radiate from the City’s Intermodal/BART Station, and accommodates bus (i.e., UC Transit, AC Transit) and BART service. The area represents a significant mix of land uses and future development opportunities. The Specific Plan area has been divided into five subareas. Of the five, the Market Place subarea has the best near-term economic development potential, which consists of multiple small shopping centers. There is also a large-scale residential development in the Station East subarea currently ramping up to begin vertical construction of several hundred townhomes. The project also includes construction of new streets and related infrastructure, robust pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and four community parks. The Core Station District subarea includes several vacant parcels, purchased by the City’s former Redevelopment Agency, that are available for development.

Union Landing is Union City’s marquis shopping destination with over 900,000 square feet of retail space. This shopping center differs from other shopping centers in that its size and range of offerings attracts customers from a larger regional trade area than Union City’s other shopping centers. Although the Center struggled during COVID, the City’s economic development team worked with property and business owners to establish a Property and Business Improvement District (PBID). The PBID has been successful in addressing many of the pandemic-related challenges and in recent years significant new investment has occurred as a result of the City’s partnership with the PBID.

Historic Alvarado District (“District”). Formerly referred to as “Old Alvarado,” this area represents the earliest European settlements in the area that would become Union City. Many historic commercial buildings are still located along Smith Street east of Union City Boulevard, with others scattered within a few blocks. The District is also a cultural center within Union City that is home to active Portuguese and Filipino communities, nationalities represented among early Union City settlers. A more recent arrival is the Masjid Al-Huda Mosque that located in the former Saint Anne’s Catholic Church. 11 of 88
9 There have been efforts to revitalize the District, including a recent $1,200,000 City-led renovation of Old Alvarado / Cesar Chavez Park, In 2012, Economic and Community Development staff, in consultation with other City Departments, prepared a Strategy Analysis for the District. The document provided a historical summary of the area, an overview of opportunity sites for development, and a set of implementation strategies, some of which the City completed. These included 1) installation of enhanced crosswalks at the intersection of Smith Street and Watkins Streets; 2) creation of District branding and a Wayfinding/Identification Sign Program. and 3) installation of grant funded bicycle racks which reflected the District logo. Another strategy focused on forming a Merchant’s Association for the District, which occurred approximately 15 years ago. City staff supported efforts by the business owners in forming a Merchant’s Association but unfortunately there was not enough support from the businesses to make it sustainable. The District remains an important but underutilized asset in the City.
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10 FIGURE 1: UNION CITY ECONOMIC FOCUS AREAS
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11 Report Contents
Including this introduction, this strategic plan includes four sections. Section II presents the data and analysis used to establish a comprehensive profile of Union City’s economic trends. Section III reflects the City’s strengths, opportunities, and challenges based both on the quantitative analysis presented in Section II and input from multiple focus groups and stakeholder interviews. These interviews provided greater context and deep insights into the data and helped define a framework for defining the Plan’s goals, objectives and strategies presented in Section IV. Section IV also includes metrics for measuring progress in achieving the Plan’s goals and a timeline for undertaking the many individual strategies.
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12 Union City’s Existing Economic Context
This section introduces key contextual information about Union City that shaped the Plan’s recommendations The following findings help optimize the City’s decision-making behind its economic development activities. This section first positions Union City in the context of the East Bay’s regional economy, as this dynamic economy encompasses Union City businesses through its many interlinking producer and supplier relationships. It then introduces the City’s residents (“Demographics”) and its businesses (“Business and Employment Profile”), which help forecast Union City’s existing strengths and potential future opportunities based on its changing labor pool. The “Real Estate Market Conditions” subsection follows, which describes current development and market conditions and inventories Union City’s existing building supply. Finally, this section presents the results of an analysis of how Union City’s current mix of residential and commercial properties contributes to the City’s fiscal health.

Regional Economic Context
Union City’s population and businesses support the City’s economic health, but they are also an integral part of the East Bay economy. Union City residents’ shop and work in the City, but they also shop and work in other places. Conversely, Union City’s businesses depend upon the region’s residents who live in other nearby cities to work in their businesses and purchase their goods and services.

Understanding that Union City is not an island, but a critical piece in a larger economy is essential to setting the context for and establishing a successful economic development strategy. Alameda County has 825,000 jobs, making it the second largest county by employment in the Bay Area (Santa Clara County has 985,000 jobs). Alameda and Santa Clara Counties are also the manufacturing centers of the Bay Area. They account for 73 percent of all manufacturing employment in the Bay Area (with Alameda County accounting for 26 percent of the Bay Area’s employment in this sector).

Manufacturing employment grew 46 percent in Alameda County between 2013 and 2023 from 66,200 jobs to 96,800 jobs. Large increases in the manufacturing sector occurred in southern Alameda County, an area that includes Union City, Newark, and Fremont. This subregion’s central location and lower land costs compared to Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties provides it with an advantage in attracting this industry.

Demographics/Resident Workforce
The following findings describe Union City’s demographics. The retail and industrial businesses that serve and employ Union City residents reflect the diversity of the city’s population and the broader region. Demographic trends provide insights into the potential opportunities and constraints Union City will face in its efforts to attract economic activity.

Several trends were analyzed in Union City and Alameda County. These comparisons show how Union City’s demographic characteristics align with those in the County. Similarities in demographic trends across the region also impact Union City’s approach to economic development.

Union City’s population declined by approximately 3.6 percent between 2013 and 2023, even as Alameda County grew by 7.6 percent, indicative of an aging population (see Figure 2). Union City’s senior population, 65 years or older, surged by 43 percent over the last decade, while the number of children under the age of 18 declined by 26 percent. Although Alameda County’s senior population 15 of 88
13 grew at a similar rate of 40 percent, the County did not experience the same decrease in its population under 18, which only decreased by 3 percent.

FIGURE 2: CHANGE IN POPULATION BY AGE GROUP IN UNION CITY AND ALAMEDA COUNTY, 2013-2023 Source: US Census Bureau ACS 2013, 2023 (Five-Year Estimates); Strategic Economics, 2025.

Union City’s population in 2023 has a higher education level than it did in 2013. The City’s population with an advanced degree (anything beyond a bachelor’s degree) increased by 85 percent over this period (see Figure 3). As a percentage of total population, Union City’s population share with an advanced degree is smaller than Alameda County’s, which increased by 51 percent. Nonetheless, the City’s gains in educational attainment indicate that people who moving to Union City are an attractive resource for companies in advanced manufacturing or technology considering locating in Union City.

In addition, these residents are earning higher incomes as evidenced by increasing real incomes (income adjusted for inflation) in Union City that reflects a 26 percent growth between 2013 and 2023 (see Figure 4). These income gains translate into higher levels of discretionary income that can be spent on local goods and services.
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Age Groups
Union City
Alameda County
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14 FIGURE 3: CHANGE IN HIGHEST EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT BY AGE GROUP FOR UNION CITY AND ALAMEDA COUNTY (FOR POPULATION 25 YEARS AND OLDER), 2013-2023
Source: US Census Bureau ACS 2013, 2023 (Five-Year Estimates); Strategic Economics, 2025.

FIGURE 4: REAL MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN UNION CITY AND ALAMEDA COUNTY IN 2023 U.S. DOLLARS, 2013- 2023
2013 2023
Incremental
Change Percent Change
Union City $108,935 $137,194 $28,259 25.9%
Alameda County $95,702 $126,240 $30,538 31.9%
Sources: US Census Bureau ACS 2013, 2023 (Five-Year Estimates); Strategic Economics, 2025.

Union City is a majority Asian city with a significant diversity of ethnicities represented among its population. In 2023, a 55 percent majority of Union City’s population identified as Asian, which was a small increase from 52 percent in 2013 (see Figure 5).

Union City is far more Asian and less white than Alameda County, though the City and County share a similar percentage of Hispanic and/or Latino residents (19 percent in Union City and 23 percent in Alameda County). The New Haven Unified School District, which serves all of Union City and a small area of Hayward, found that over half of the District’s students spoke a language other than English at home. 1 These languages include Spanish (22 percent), Tagalog (10 percent), and Punjabi (5 percent). The mix of languages represented among students demonstrates Union City’s ethnic diversity, which has strong representation of students with Mexican, Filipino, and Indian ancestry. 1 New Haven Unified School District, Two-Way Dual Language Program Master Plan, 2017-2018, https://mynhusd.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/08/emanuele-two-way-dual-language-program-master-plan-2-1.pdf -40%
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Less Than
Highschool
High School
Graduate
Some College Bachelors
Degree
Advanced
Degree
Percentage Change in Population at
least 25 Years old
Highest Level of Educational Attainment
Union City
Alameda County
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15 FIGURE 5: RACIAL COMPOSITION OF UNION CITY AND ALAMEDA COUNTY, 2013-2023 Source: US Census Bureau ACS 2013, 2023 (Five-Year Estimates); Strategic Economics, 2025.

Business and Employment Profile
This section summarizes the results of an analysis of Union City businesses, primarily through the lens of the total number of workers employed by industry sector. For analytic purposes, Union City’s economy was organized into nine industry sectors or sector groups. For the most part, these represent standard industry using NAICS codes at the two and three-digit level. However, the Life Sciences industry grouping has been constructed using the same mixture of industry groups defined by the East Bay Economic Development Alliance for their recent industrial land study2. In addition, all nine industry sectors were then aggregated into two groups: traded sectors and household service sectors. • Traded sectors include the industries that are most likely to sell their goods and services outside of Union City and to be focused primarily on business-to-business transactions, such as manufacturing or wholesale trade.
• Household serving sectors are primarily focused on selling goods and services to residents including retail and health care.

Overall, Union City has a higher share of jobs in the traded sector than Alameda County as a whole.

Approximately 72 percent of Union City’s non-public sector employees work in the traded sector (see Figure 6) versus 65 percent countywide.

Union City has a lower share of employment in the Professional Services and Life Sciences as compared to Alameda County. Professional Services is the largest traded sector by employment in Alameda County (19 percent) but employs a smaller share of workers in Union City (11 percent).

Professional Services businesses usually require workers with who have attained at least a college 52% 55%
27% 32%
22% 19%
23%
23%
14% 15%
34%
28%
5% 5% 12% 10%
7% 5% 5% 7%
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2013 2023 2013 2023
Other
Black
White (Non-Hispanic)
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Union City Alameda
County
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16 degree and locate in places that are central to their potential labor pool. Although Union City’s population is becoming increasingly better educated, these well-educated residents are commuting to other cities in the Bay Area where Professional Service jobs are already concentrated but are easily accessible to Union City.

Industries that produce or distribute tangible goods employ a higher share of workers in Union City than Alameda County. Manufacturing is the largest industry in Union City’s traded sectors industry category, employing 16 percent of all Union City workers; whereas manufacturing only employs 12 percent of workers in Alameda County. Wholesale Trade employs 10 percent of Union City workers, this sector comprises only three percent of Alameda County workers. These two industries are considered together because wholesale trade is an important part of a manufacturing supply chain.

These sectors account for 28 percent of Union City’s employment, but only 15 percent of employment in Alameda County. This industry concentration reflects Union City’s multiple industrial parks with flexible buildings that can accommodate either manufacturing or wholesale trade related businesses.

Union City and Alameda County both spread their employment across a diverse range of industries.

In the traded sector, no single industry accounts for more than 20 percent of all jobs—Alameda County has 19 percent of workers in Professional Services and Union City has 16 percent in Manufacturing.

This fosters resiliency as large economic impacts specific to one sector will not be felt as largely. The City experienced this during the COVID pandemic when certain businesses were forced to shut down while other “essential” businesses continued to operate, softening the economic impact to Union City during this time.

FIGURE 6: SHARE OF JOBS BY MAJOR INDUSTRY SECTOR IN UNION CITY AND ALAMEDA COUNTY, 2023 Source: Lightcast, 2023; Strategic Economics, 2025.
16%
11%
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10%
10%
7%
4%
3%
28%
12%
19%
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9%
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Manufacturing
Professional Services
Business Support Services
Wholesale Trade
Retail Trade
Construction
Transportation & Warehousing
Life Sciences
Household-Serving
Union City
Alameda County
Traded Sector
Non-traded Sector
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17 Fifty-six percent of Union City’s manufacturing jobs are in food manufacturing. Union City has an employment concentration in this subsector eight times higher than Alameda County as a whole. Food manufacturing is a legacy industry to Union City with longstanding ties to the region. Both Blommer Chocolate and the American Licorice Company have been in Union City for at least 50 years. Other large food manufacturers in Union City include Rich Products Corporation, Bake Mark, Sterling Foods, La Terra Fina, Irca Group, the Chefs’ Warehouse, and Dawn Food Products. A concentration of food manufacturers is in the Central Bay Business Park, and these businesses usually occupy larger and older buildings compared to other businesses.

The wholesale trade sector also requires buildings in industrial parks. As intermediaries in the distribution of merchandise, wholesale trade businesses need large spaces to store their inventory before sending it to buyers, who are typically other businesses. The movement of goods is critical to wholesalers, and Union City’s central access to San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and other parts of Alameda County makes it a desirable location. This explains Union City’s high concentration of jobs (10 percent) in this sector compared to the County (four percent). Wholesalers typically operate out of warehouse buildings, but they are different than warehousing businesses, which store but do not sell the goods, and fulfillment centers, which focus on parcel delivery. As such, Union City receives greater sales tax revenue from wholesalers than warehouses or transportation/fulfillment centers. The latter uses (“Transportation and Warehousing”) only comprise four percent of Union City jobs.

Union City’s employment growth moved in the same direction as Alameda County’s across all industry sectors. There were differences in the magnitude of growth. While the County’s employment growth in Manufacturing, Transportation and Warehousing eclipsed Union City’s growth in these sectors, Union City grew its Construction and Household-Serving industries at a faster rate.3 Both the City and County experienced marginal declines in their Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade employment. 3 Construction businesses include activities such as residential building construction or building equipment contracting (mechanical systems such as electricity, water, heating, etc.). Household-serving businesses are more wide-ranging and includes social assistance businesses (home health care, day cares, residential care facilities), physician’s offices, auto repair shops, nail salons, and restaurants, among other uses.
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18 FIGURE 7: PERCENT CHANGE IN EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY SECTOR, 2013-2023 (a) Business Support Services growth in Union City is not shown in the Table above due to the large increases in off-site workers at businesses reported in the following categories: Investigation and Security Services and Services to Buildings and Dwellings. Union City experienced 226 percent growth in Business Support Services, which is not charted as most of these jobs are likely located outside Union City. Security services and services to buildings (janitorial, landscaping, pest control, etc.) often employ workers at client sites but report them to the businesses’ origin city as the location of their services vary.

Source: Lightcast, 2013-2023; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Real Estate Market Conditions
This section describes Union City’s real estate assets and market performance across the office, industrial, and retail real estate classes. This real estate data for Union City has also been benchmarked to real estate performance by building type in Hayward, Newark, and San Leandro.

Union City’s commercial building stock overwhelmingly serves industrial users. The city’s industrial buildings comprise 84 percent of real estate by square foot, excluding residential uses (see Figure 8). This is a higher share of real estate than the County, where industrial buildings equal 60 percent of total area. Industrial developments value proximity to their markets and supply chains, but modern industrial buildings also require large parcels. Their design varies by specific use (ex. warehouse, distribution, manufacturing), but they are mostly single-story buildings with high lot coverage percentages. As most of Union City is built out, conversion of uses or redevelopment are the best opportunities for industrial expansion.

Union City has approximately 600,000 square feet of office space, accounting for only four percent of its total commercial real estate (see Figure 8). Over half of this real estate is used for medical offices that are primarily local serving. Therefore, the City’s residential population (and not its worker population) creates most of the demand for office buildings. Conversely, Alameda County’s 78 million square feet of total office space accounts for 20 percent of its commercial real estate and includes more knowledge-sector tenants (professional, administrative, and financial users). Before the -20%
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19 pandemic, Union City expected a 1.2 million square foot increase in its total office space at its BART station, but the fundamental economics of office development shifted after the pandemic precipitated large decreases in demand.

FIGURE 8: REAL ESTATE INVENTORY BY PROPERTY TYPE
Real Estate Type Square Footage % of Total
Square Feet
per Capita
Union City
Industrial/Flex 14,200,000 84% 208
Office 600,000 4% 9
Retail 2,100,000 12% 31
Total 16,900,000 100% 248
Alameda County
Industrial/Flex 228,800,000 60% 139
Office 78,100,000 20% 47
Retail 74,700,000 20% 45
Total 381,600,000 100% 231
Source: U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2019-2023; CoStar, 2025; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Industrial
Union City’s industrial buildings are concentrated in three primary subareas: the Central Bay Business Park, Alvarado Business Park, and the Union City Boulevard Corridor (see Figure 9). All three of these subareas offer close access to Interstate 880, an attractive feature for wholesale trade businesses or other businesses that rely on Union City’s strategic location. The Alvarado Business Park, Union City Boulevard Corridor, and Horner-Veasy Area sit adjacent to each other in the western part of the city (see Figure 1) and together contain 41 percent of the city’s industrial space. The Station East area is the city’s smallest industrial cluster at only three percent of the City’s inventory.

FIGURE 9: INDUSTRIAL INVENTORY BY SUBAREA
Square Feet Percentage
Alvarado Business Park 2,891,000 20%
Central Bay Business Park 8,076,000 55%
Horner/Veasy Area 105,000 1%
Lincoln-Alvarado Business Park / Union City
Boulevard Corridor 2,883,000 20%
Station East 470,000 3%
Other 335,000 2%
Total 14,760,000 100%
Source: CoStar, 2025; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Union City’s industrial real estate performance tracked closely to its neighbors over the past ten years, but the city’s vacancy rates are two points lower than its neighbors as of quarter three of 2025 (see Figures 10 and 11). Following the pandemic, Union City’s vacancy rates hit 2.3 percent, the lowest level in the city since 2016. However, 2024 and 2025 brought regional increases in vacancies and plateauing rents. Whereas Hayward, Newark, and San Leandro’s vacancy rates increased in both 2024 and 2025, Union City maintained the same vacancy rate (6.1 percent) between the two years. This suggests that the City’s industrial real estate is more resilient as a result 22 of 88
20 of its location and/or physical attributes. The City’s average industrial rents are $14.56 in 2025. This is the lowest average rent in 2025 by a small amount, but high variability in average rents by year indicates that they are more strongly related to property characteristics of leasable buildings than market strength.

FIGURE 10: INDUSTRIAL VACANCY RATES FOR SELECTED JURISDICTIONS, 2015-2025 Source: CoStar, 2015-2025; Strategic Economics, 2025.

FIGURE 11: INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE RENTS (NNN) FOR SELECTED JURISDICTIONS, 2015-2025 Source: CoStar, 2015-2025; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Retail
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Industrial Annual Average Vacancy Rate
Newark
Hayward
San Leandro
Union City
$6.00
$8.00
$10.00
$12.00
$14.00
$16.00
$18.00
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Industrial Annual Average Rent (NNN)
per Square Foot
Newark
San Leandro
Hayward
Union City
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21 Most of Union City’s retail space is region-serving in nature, meaning it attracts customers from outside Union City (see Figure 12). Region-serving shopping centers are those with trade areas— the radius from which the center draws its customers—of three miles or greater. The four centers that meet these criteria are Union Landing (907,073 square feet), Calaveras Landing (201,632), Union Square Marketplace (180,228), and El Mercado Shopping Center (117,343). Union Landing alone comprises 43 percent of Union City’s retail space. Region-serving centers such as these are differentiated from neighborhood-serving centers or non-shopping center retail (i.e., retail buildings not owned or managed as part of a larger property that are typically located along a street rather than setback from the street with a dedicated parking field) as their sales represent a net revenue inflow into Union City through sales tax. Conversely, neighborhood-serving centers, though vital to the quality of life of residents, mostly capture and return to the City the spending dollars and sales tax of its existing residents.

FIGURE 12: RETAIL INVENTORY BY PROPERTY TYPE IN UNION CITY Union City Alameda County
Square Feet Share of Total Square Feet Share of Total
Non-Shopping Center 350,000 16.9% 41,750,000 55.9%
Shopping Center 1,740,000 83.1% 32,990,000 44.1%
Neighborhood-Serving 450,000 21.6% 14,300,000 19.1%
Region-Serving 1,290,000 61.4% 18,700,000 25.0%
Total Retail 2,100,000 100.0% 74,750,000 100.0%
Source: Costar, 2025; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Union City’s consistently low retail vacancies and high average rents compared to nearby jurisdictions demonstrate the strength of the city’s retail inventory (see Figures 12 and 13).

Shopping center vacancy rates across the country decreased to their lowest levels following the pandemic, bottoming out at 5.4 percent in 2023, after ranging from six to nine percent in the 2010s.4 Union City maintained vacancy rates below five percent from 2015 until 2025, as the vacancy rate in Union City is now a healthy 5.1 percent. The city’s retail rents peaked at $47.41 in 2023, boosted by vacancies in the high-rent Union Landing shopping center. After these vacancies were filled, the average retail rent fell to comparable levels to other nearby cities, but it is notable that no other city reached higher than $35 average rents between 2015 and 2025. Union City’s average rents topped $35 between 2019 and 2024.
4 Cushman & Wakefield, MarketBeat United States Retail Q2, 2025, https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/united-states/insights/usmarketbeats/us-shopping-center-marketbeat-report 24 of 88
22 FIGURE 13: RETAIL VACANCY RATES FOR SELECTED JURISDICTIONS, 2015-2025 Source: CoStar, 2015-2025; Strategic Economics, 2025.

FIGURE 14: RETAIL AVERAGE RENTS (NNN) FOR SELECTED JURISDICTIONS Source: CoStar, 2015-2025; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Several developers and businesses in Union City demonstrate the adaptability of the city’s existing building stock to new uses. Azimuth, a semiconductor chip packager, operates its high-tech labs out of a former commercial building on Union City Boulevard. Tarlton, a life science developer, has undertaken two conversion projects in Union City that transformed former industrial and office space into life science spaces. Finally, Tenaya Therapeutics completed an extensive build-out of a flexindustrial shell in 2022 to house its Genetic Medicines Manufacturing Center. Allowing for the 0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Retail Annual Average Vacancy Rate
Union City
Newark
Hayward
San Leandro
$6.00
$11.00
$16.00
$21.00
$26.00
$31.00
$36.00
$41.00
$46.00
$51.00
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Retail Annual Average Rent (NNN) per
Square Foot
Newark
Union City
San Leandro
Hayward
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23 business to keep this manufacturing operation close to its South San Francisco headquarters and in a building flexible enough to meet their current and future manufacturing needs.

Union City’s buildings also prove adaptable to different use types. Strategic Economics analyzed data from CoStar on building types, manufacturing or warehouse/distribution, and tenant industries to understand what types of businesses occupy Union City’s buildings.5 The results, shown in Figure 14, reveal that both building types host a wide range of uses, some not even industrial in nature, such as Professional Services and Household-Serving businesses. More manufacturing businesses operate out of buildings categorized as warehouses than those categorized as manufacturing. Union City’s industrial building stock, like much of the East Bay’s, is older, and the needs of industrial users change over time. The diversity of businesses in Union City’s industrial buildings suggest that these older spaces still meet the needs of many Union City businesses. However, certain modern manufacturing or warehouse users may require purpose-built new construction to locate in Union City.

FIGURE 15: NUMBER OF TENANTS BY INDUSTRY CATEGORY OCCUPYING MANUFACTURING AND WAREHOUSE & DISTRIBUTION BUILDINGS IN UNION CITY, 2024
Source: CoStar, 2024; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Union City’s Fiscal Health
Union City’s fiscal health, particularly as it relates to income from businesses and consumer spending, serves as a measure of the strength of the local economy. A healthy revenue flow to the City’s General Fund creates a virtuous cycle as the City has more resources to allocate towards improved services. 5 CoStar differentiates Industrial buildings into “Secondary Types” according to the following definitions:

Distribution: These are typically large buildings, both single and multi-tenant, used for the warehousing and distribution of inventory. Buildings are typically 200,000 sf or more, with clear heights 28 feet plus, up to 5% office space and the balance being warehouse/storage space.

These buildings typically have one loading door for every 10,0000 sf of RBA and site coverage up to 40%. These buildings are often crossdocked with trailer parking.

Manufacturing: These buildings are typically 300,000 sf or greater with one loading dock for every 15,000 sf of RBA. Office area up to 50%. 0 50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Manufacturing Warehouse and Distribution
Unknown
Transportation & Warehousing
Wholesale Trade
Retail Trade
Professional Services
Manufacturing
Life Sciences
Household-Serving
Construction
Business Support Services
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24 The two main sources of revenue to Union City’s General Fund are property taxes and sales taxes; together, they account for 59 percent of Union City’s General Fund revenue. This section summarizes the contributions Union City businesses and commercial properties make to these two revenue sources.

Residential properties contribute the most to the City’s property tax base, but commercial properties have higher assessed value per acre (see Figure 16). Approximately 12,000 acres of residential property in Union City has a total assessed value of approximately $10 billion, with an average assessed value of approximately $840,000 per acre. Industrial and retail property occupy 1,500 acres and 400 acres, with total assessed values of $2 billion and $600 million. Although these commercial properties account for a much smaller share of the City’s developed area, on average assessed value per acre of these two property types are worth $1.35 and $1.56 million in assessed value per acre, or $500,000 to $700,000 higher than the average per acre residential property per acre.

FIGURE 16: TAXABLE VALUE AND ACREAGE BY LAND USE, FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024 Source: Alameda County Assessor, 2023-2024; City of Union City, 2024; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Commercial Property sales and value increases from major rehabilitations provide a strong hedge against cost inflation for Union City’s General Fund. Proposition 13 limits property tax rates to one percent of the assessed value and limits annual assessment increases to no more than two percent.

Properties can only be fully reassessed when they sell, or a major renovation has taken place. All major property types in Union City, including retail, industrial, residential, and vacant, derive at least 70 percent of their tax base growth from reassessments due to sales or significant reinvestment, rather than from the two percent annual growth allowable under Prop 13. As Figure 17 shows, Union City’s industrial property had much greater growth in assessed value than residential, retail or vacant properties. This indicates that at industrial properties can be a significant driver of the City’s marginal growth in property tax revenues.
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25 FIGURE 17: GROWTH IN TOTAL ASSESSED VALUES BY PARCEL LAND USE, 2020-2024 Source: Alameda County Assessor’s Office, 2018-2024; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Property reassessments do not occur at a constant rate over time as they are subject to market factors including market demand and interest rates (see Figure 18). Increases in residential reassessments demonstrate more consistency over time than industrial reassessments, but even these assessments varied from approximately $200 million in the 2018 to 2019 period to $700 million in 2021 through 2022. Reassessments of industrial property peaked at the same time driven by Fortinet’s expansion in the Central Bay Business Park. Despite recording average transactions of $70 million in value across all the other years examined, Union City’s industrial reassessments reached $450 million from July of 2021 through June of 2022. While reassessments result in increased property tax collected by the City, reassessment activity reflects broader economic trends and are not guaranteed source of future property tax growth. Conversely, long-term property owners in Union City, including businesses and residents, benefit from the limited increases in property tax assessment imposed by Proposition 13.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Retail Industrial Residential Vacant Total
Reassessed Parcels Non-reassessed parcels
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26 FIGURE 18: COMBINED ASSESSED VALUE OF PROPERTIES SOLD (MILLIONS OF USD) BY YEAR SOLD AND LAND USE (MILLIONS OF DOLLARS)
Note: Any given year range includes all dates from July 1st of the start year to June 30th of the end year.

Source: Alameda County Assessor, 2017-2024; Strategic Economics, 2024.

The other large source of revenue for Union City is sales tax, which represented 23 percent of General Fund revenues in Fiscal Year 2023/2024. The sales tax collected by the City comes from the BradleyBurns local tax rate (a one percent base tax rate implemented by the State) and a half-percent local transactions tax approved by Union City voters (Measure AA).6 Strategic Economics analyzed data from Avenu Insights & Analytics, which tracks Bradley-Burns sales tax collected in Union City, to determine the source of local sales tax dollars. This analysis revealed that retail and business-to-business tax accounted for a similar share of sales tax generation. Retail sales accounted for 55 percent of all sales tax generated in 2023 and industrial sales accounted for 43 percent of all sales tax generated in that year (see Figure 19). 6 Bradley-Burns sales taxes are one percent taxes on sales that occurred within Union City. These differ from transactions and use taxes that are levied to the sales’ point-of-destination rather than their point-of-sale. One example of a transactions and use tax is Union City’s Measure AA tax, a voter-approved half-cent sales tax measure that was renewed in 2022. $0
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024 Assessed Value upon Sale (Millions
USD)
Year of Sale*
Residential
Industrial
Commercial
Vacant
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27 FIGURE 19: DISTRIBUTION OF BRADLEY-BURNS SALES TAX BY LAND USE, 2023 Source: Avenu Insights & Analytics, 2023; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Including both property and sales tax revenues, commercial properties generated approximately $20 million for Union City’s General Fund in 2024 (see Figure 20). Commercial properties produce all of the City’s Bradley-Burns and Measure AA sale tax revenue, which also contributed $7.1 million to the City’s general fund in 2023. When combined with the higher per acre assessed property value than residential properties, this total revenue generation demonstrates why commercial properties are so important to the City, beyond their ability to generate jobs for city residents.

FIGURE 20: PROPERTY TAX AND SALES TAX REVENUE BY LAND USE, 2024 Notes: The Bradley-Burns sales tax revenue collected reflects the sales tax collected in 2024 from the City based on distribution by use data from 2023.

Source: Avenu Insights & Analytics, 2023; Strategic Economics, 2025.

Industrial Retail Other
16% 43%
4%
55%
73%
7%
$0
$5,000,000
$10,000,000
$15,000,000
$20,000,000
$25,000,000
$30,000,000
$35,000,000
Property Tax Revenue Sales Tax Revenue
(Bradley-Burns)*
Other
Residential
Retail
Industrial
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28 Union City’s Strengths, Opportunities, and
Challenges
This section describes Union City’s current economic strengths, its potential opportunities for economic growth, and the challenges the City faces in its efforts to attract, expand, and retain businesses. The findings discussed below are based on previously reviewed empirical data and interviews or focus group meetings with individual city council members, business representatives, property owners and developers, and real estate brokers. Everybody who participated in these discussions has worked with and/or operated in Union City for many years and has a unique perspective on what makes the City a great place to do business, what opportunities may exist that the City could capitalize on in the future, and what challenges the City faces. These insights add depth and context to the quantitative data presented in the previous chapter and help to define the economic strategies presented in the next section.

STRENGTHS
Union City’s strengths come from a combination of its location, its diverse business mix, its businessfriendly government, and its strong resident workforce.

One of Union City’s key strengths is its strategic location. There are three primary attributes that account for this strength:
(1) Accessibility to Workers: Union City’s location between the San Mateo and Dunbarton Bridges provides multiple access routes to San Mateo County. This makes Union City a strategic place for businesses to locate while maintaining access for executives who work and/or live in San Mateo County. The City’s BART station and future Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) link also make Union City central for businesses who need to attract and retain workers with a wide range of skills and educational attainment levels.
(2) Accessibility to Innovative Industries: Developers and business representatives both indicated that Union City’s proximity to the life science research centered in San Mateo County boosts the City’s opportunity to attract businesses in this industry. Being located on the Interstate 880 corridor at the northern edge of Santa Clara County also makes Union City an attractive location for businesses who are part of the larger semiconductor supply chain centered in northern Santa Clara County.
(3) National and International Connections: Union City is close enough to both Oakland and San Francisco International Airports that it is an easy destination for people coming to visit Union City companies, primarily from Asia.

Union City’s moderately priced, flexible building stock can be easily adapted for advanced manufacturing businesses. Several businesses and developers have converted Union City’s buildings to facilities in the semiconductor or life sciences industries. Developers and business representatives say that it is faster and less expensive to convert existing buildings than build new buildings, especially in strong inner bay area locations like Union City. Three examples include precision diagnostics company BillionToOne (headquartered in Menlo Park with a lab in Union City), genetic medicines manufacturer Tenaya Therapeutics (headquartered in South San Francisco, manufacturing in Union City), and semiconductor packager Azimuth. Building adaptability combined with lower costs have also 31 of 88
29 attracted developers like Tarlton and Woodstock Development to purchase and repurpose older buildings to accommodate primarily life science tenants.

Despite the challenges of doing business in California and the Bay Area, companies prefer to remain in the area due to the large diverse labor pool and supply chain ecosystem. Union City’s existing manufacturing companies, which make everything from candy to robotic devices, acknowledge that it would be cheaper to operate in a lower cost state. But there is no other place in the U.S. that can replicate the region’s diverse workforce and extensive network of customers and suppliers.

Union City is responsive to businesses and has business friendly land use policies. Developers noted that Union City’s General Plan and zoning ordinance are both recent enough to reflect development standards that help to streamline the development process. This helps to lower development costs and reduce long-term risk.

CHALLENGES
Union City is facing a significant fiscal challenge as operating costs have increased faster than revenues. Because the City’s industrial lands and commercial areas contribute significantly to the City’s General Fund through property and sales tax revenue, a key consideration for economic development will be to assist in growing these revenues through investment and increased sales.

When the national and regional economy is growing, Union City is well-positioned to capture a share of this growth by leveraging its competitive advantages discussed above. But when economic trends are uncertain or declining, Union City must also recognize the following challenges and build a forwardlooking strategy to recover when trends improve.

Ongoing economic uncertainty in the U.S. economy prompted by trade policy, high interest rates, inflation, and cutbacks to federal spending on research and development. These factors are all rippling through the economy in ways that are slowing investment in Union City. For example, life science developers have been purchasing property in Union City to lease to growing life science companies that need starter spaces. This strategy, which had seen success in Union City, is now facing setbacks as a recent warehouse to life science conversion project has been slow to lease up. At least some of this market slowdown is tied to the federal government’s significant cuts in funding for life science related research and development. Another factor is the current oversupply of life science space in the Bay Area.

Manufacturing businesses struggle to afford to stay in the East Bay due to high rents, labor costs, and power costs. If housing prices continue to rise in the Bay Area, this will create challenges for low- and middle-income residents who live and work in the East Bay. The subsequent displacement makes places like the Central Valley attractive and competitive alternatives to Union City. Union City’s existing companies want to be in the Bay Area, but California’s high-cost environment makes it difficult to expand here. California competes with states that have fewer regulations for manufacturers, cheaper land, and a lower cost of living.

The same costs that push manufacturers out of the East Bay also discourage business formation and expansion. The Bay Area is a known leader in Life Sciences Research and Development, which resulted in Union City attracting innovative companies like Tenaya Therapeutics, BilliontoOne, and Hongene Biotech Corporation, but businesses across all industries often look outside California entirely when expanding their manufacturing operations.
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30 The East Bay is an interdependent ecosystem of producers and suppliers, and the departure of even a few key businesses creates disequilibrium. Conversations in focus groups revealed the importance of local supply chains. Large industrial businesses in Union City rely on smaller suppliers (e.g., grinding, heat treating, tooling) to stay operational here. Many suppliers have been in the East Bay for decades and occupy older and smaller industrial properties or condos. These suppliers face high-cost burdens as well and are vulnerable if they do not own the building out of which they operate. In this case, property tax reassessments, which do increase the City’s revenue, could also impose significant challenges on small businesses due to rising rents.

Union City’s largest vacant sites available for future industrial and office development are not attracting any interest from the market for a variety of reasons. A large privately owned vacant site is located in the Station East subarea of the Station District Specific Plan. The City has received an application for a new multi-family residential development, consisting of approximately 240 townhomes, on this site, which is currently under review. The property owner provided feedback that the current limitation on warehouse uses on the site and the proximity to I-880 has hampered prior efforts to develop the site with industrial uses.

The City owns four parcels in the Station District Core subarea along 11th Street. Three of these parcels were being considered for mid-rise office development prior to the pandemic. However, with the shifts in the East Bay office market following the pandemic, it could be as long as ten years before there is sufficient demand for a similar office development. Given the current market uncertainty over the future of the office market in general, it is difficult to know at this time whether this will ever be viable site for higher density office uses. In addition, these properties are subject to the state Surplus Land Act, which requires the City to offer the property to affordable housing developers prior to the land being used for any other use.

OPPORTUNITIES
Although Union City faces some significant challenges with respect to attracting new investment or business expansion due to the national and regional economic trends, the City still has excellent opportunities to prepare for the next market upswing by improving its entitlement and building permitting processes and enhancing its quality of life. Increasingly, new businesses, especially in technology related sectors, are looking for locations that offer their workforce walkable districts with access to restaurants and pleasant outdoor amenities. Union City has several excellent opportunities to create more distinctive places and districts.

Union City can proactively work with PG&E and other power storage systems to ensure sufficient power supply to all industrial areas. Access to power is a growing concern for potential East Bay businesses, and some stakeholders highlighted the efforts of other jurisdictions to form stronger relationships with PG&E to fast-track local projects. In Union City, the City Council and business stakeholders advocated for more coordination of infrastructure planning across departments and outside agencies including PG&E during interviews, which would also provide a reputational boost showing that Union City is open for business.

Although Union City has amenities for workers and residents, the City could add more. Attracting and retaining workforce is a significant challenge for some Union City businesses today, and this issue could continue to grow over time. Union City could help its existing businesses and increase quality of life for its residents by strategically adding several new amenities in the City. First, the City could 33 of 88
31 expand and increase the quality of its bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure connecting both industrial areas and residential neighborhood to the Bay Trail on the City’s western edge and Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park on its eastern edge. Several large life science developers in San Mateo County are starting to include trails and other outdoor recreational amenities to their projects to attract young workers who want to spend time outdoors in high quality spaces during their workday. Second, Union City could improve multi-modal connectivity to the BART station, making it easier for people to ride BART to Union City, then bike or walk from the BART station to their job. And third, the City could work with cooperative shopping center owners to enhance their properties to be more attractive to Union City residents, workforce, and potential businesses.

Economic Development Strategies
This section presents the goals, objectives strategies, metrics and timeframes for directing Union City’s economic development initiatives over the next three to five years. The goals and objectives reflect input from City Council and Economic Development Advisory Team (EDAT) members while also encompassing the focus areas and objectives that remain relevant from the City’s 2019 Economic Development Strategic Plan Update. In addition, the City has a new focus on small business support which has also been folded into this Strategy.

The metrics for measuring achievement are designed to measure how well the City is doing to manage its own resources in ways that directly build on Union City’s existing strengths and opportunities, while also providing ongoing information about the challenges that are shaping the City’s ability to move ahead in some directions over the short term.

GOAL 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S

EXISTING BUSINESSES
Objective 1.1: Strengthen communication, engagement, and partnership with the local business community.

Strategy 1.1(a) Organize industry-focused events such as information roundtables, forums, listening sessions, networking events or other formats as appropriate.

Strategy 1.1(b) Meet quarterly with the Economic Development Advisory Team.

Strategy 1.1(c) Recognize and celebrate the achievements of businesses and their contributions to the community.

Strategy 1.1(d) Collaborate with the Union City Chamber of Commerce to conduct outreach to their membership regarding programs and information that support Union City businesses. Work to determine priorities for each year that will inform the scope of work of the agreement between the City and Chamber.

Strategy 1.1(e) Maintain and regularly update the Union City internal business database for economic development communications.
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32 Strategy 1.1(f) Assist businesses who are establishing or expanding their business including but not limited to obtaining necessary permitting, identifying funding support, and receiving training on business operations, etc.

Strategy 1.1(g) Prioritize engagement with the City’s top sales tax generators and major employers to remain up to date on any growth opportunities or challenges they may be facing.

Strategy 1.1(h) Promote the City’s diverse industrial sector through collaborative events that educate the public on the type of businesses in the City. (i.e. Manufacturing Day) Objective 1.2: Implement best practices to maintain clean and safe industrial and commercial districts.

Strategy 1.2(a) Collaborate with the City’s Homeless Task Force to address issues related to homelessness in the City’s industrial and commercial districts.

Strategy 1.2(b) Educate and train businesses on best practices for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), emergency preparedness training, and other strategies for sharing responsibilities for keeping businesses and property safe.

Objective 1.3: Connect businesses to federal, state, regional and local business resources.

Strategy 1.3(a) Regularly engage business support partners to maintain relationships and plan for upcoming business needs (i.e. SBA, Alameda County Workforce Development Board, SBDC, and GOBIZ.)
Strateg y 1.3(b) Routinely update informational materials for new businesses describing available business resources.

Strategy 1.3(c) Collaborate with the Union City Chamber of Commerce on initiatives that support the Union City business community.

Objective 1.4: Support existing small businesses and small business start-ups in Union City.

Strategy 1.4(a) Prepare and maintain a “Starting a Business in Union City 101” Guide which includes information regarding resources and contacts including but not limited to those offered by the City, the East Bay Small Business Development Center, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Strategy 1.4(b) Organize and deliver regular workshops and educational sessions to provide small businesses with practical information, tools, and resources to support business sustainability and growth.

Strategy 1.4(c) Plan and execute promotional campaigns with local partners that encourage residents to support Union City businesses (i.e. Shop Local/Small Business Week, Restaurant Week, etc).

GOAL 2: ATTRACT NEW BUSINESSES TO UNION CITY
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33 Objective 2.1: Prioritize efforts to attract new businesses that are a good match with the City’s available real estate assets and infrastructure, and/or the skills and levels of education held by Union City residents, focusing on life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and professional scientific and technical services, and emerging sectors.

Strategy 2.1(a) Work with brokers, developers, and individual businesses to provide information necessary to assist with property acquisition, investment and location decisions.

Strategy 2.1(b) Collaborate with the East Bay Economic Development Alliance, Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance, industry and trade groups, and other East Bay cities to understand regional industry trends and economic cycles.

Strategy 2.1(c) Meet and communicate regularly with industrial brokers, developers, and property owners to understand the local and regional industrial real estate market and identify ways that Union City can take advantage of emerging opportunities or address challenging trends.

Strategy 2.1(d) Engage with developers or business owners to identify actions the City could take to update its land use policies (i.e. General Plan, Zoning, etc.), processes for project approval, or otherwise remove barriers to investing in Union City.

Strategy 2.1(e) Explore opportunities for offering business incentives to support companies interested in establishing operations in Union City.

Strategy 2.1(f) Offer individualized site selection assistance including demographic reports to assist businesses in their customer and workforce profile needs.

Objective 2.2: Work with shopping center owners to attract new tenants that serve Union City’s diverse population.

Strategy 2.2(a) Meet with the City’s shopping center owners to gather information regarding how each center is performing, and to identify ways in which the City can support in areas such as permitting infrastructure, addressing crime, matching new business start-ups with vacant space, etc.

Strategy 2.2(b) Engage with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and local retail brokers to track up-and-coming retail trends and identify potential national, regional, and local retail tenants who might be a good fit for Union City.

Strategy 2.2(c) Develop promotional materials to support retail attraction to Union City’s commercial areas.

GOAL 3: FOSTER INVESTMENT IN UNION CITY’S

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Objective 3.1: Facilitate redevelopment of, or reinvestment in, underutilized properties in the City’s industrial areas. 36 of 88
34 Strategy 3.1(a) Track property transactions and reach out to new property owners to provide information about City processes and programs, or its partners, on services such as workforce training, obtaining development entitlements, working with local utilities, etc.

Strategy 3.1(b) Continue engagement with PG&E to enhance the ability of businesses to connect and upgrade their electric and gas utilities in a timely manner and assess power supply and needs of existing businesses and future industries to ensure there is adequate infrastructure.

Strategy 3.1(c) Continue to participate in the City’s interdepartmental Development Review Committee to ensure a timely and predictable permit process.

Objective 3.2: Facilitate reinvestment in Union City’s Shopping Centers Strategy 3.2(a) Work with interested shopping center owners to prepare a SWOT analysis for their property and work on an implementation plan to help these owners address their property’s weaknesses and leverage opportunities.

Strategy 3.2(b) Continue to support a public private partnership with the Union Landing Property Owners Association (ULPOA) and the continued renewal of the Property Business Improvement District (PBID).

Strategy 3.2(c) Promote intensification and transformation of existing shopping centers to address changing retail and economic trends.

Strategy 3.2(d) Manage and maintain City owned pylons signs within Union Landing to ensure functionality of lighting and that business signs remain filled and reflective of retail offerings.

Objective 3.3: Strengthen multi-modal connections between Union City’s business districts and the City’s existing amenities Strategy 3.3(a) Promote and educate businesses about the City’s commercial and industrial districts through strong multimodal connections between the BART station and the Marketplace subarea, industrial districts, Union Landing and the Historic Alvarado District.

Strategy 3.3(b) Continue to support and promote the Union City Transit services including the Flea.

Objective 3.4: Enhance the vitality of the Historic Alvarado District as a destination for shopping, services, and dining.

Strategy 3.4(a) Update existing strategies for the Historic Alvarado District that address urban design, placemaking, and economic development considerations including business attraction and retention.

Strategy 3.4(b) Engage both City and community stakeholders to evaluate opportunities to increase visibility of the area.

Objective 3.5: Facilitate development of City-owned properties.

Strategy 3.5(a) Prepare an inventory of vacant City-owned property to inform a strategy for disposition and development of opportunity sites.

Strategy 3.5(b) Develop marketing materials to highlight opportunity sites. 37 of 88
35 GOAL 4: TELL UNION CITY’S STORY OF SUCCESS
Objective 4.1: Promote Union City by telling a strong story Strategy 4.1(a) Update a Union City marketing plan that includes information about the City’s demographics, resident workforce, business mix, types of real estate opportunities and local assets/amenities; as well as promoting services the City offers to businesses and property owners.

Strategy 4.1(b) Continue to participate in state and regional efforts to promote Bay Area cities including but not limited to participation in the East Bay Economic Development Alliance, Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance, California Association of Local Economic Development, and ICSC.

Strategy 4.1(c) Maintain basic collateral materials that promote Union City’s distinct assets and amenities, such as the City’s small-town character within a major metropolitan region, access to big box stores and unique ethnic restaurants and grocery stores, close to regional parks, but also to San Francisco and the Peninsula.

Strategy 4.1(d) Update the economic development webpage on the City’s website.

Objective 4.2: Keep community members and local businesses informed and involved
Strategy 4.2(a) Present quarterly updates to the City Council on economic development related data trends and projects.

Strategy 4.2(b) Post economic development related news and stories on the City’s social media.

Strategy 4.2(c) Educate key stakeholders in the community (i.e. business leaders, commissioners, civic groups) in order to serve as ambassadors who promote the City’s brand and core marketing messages to the broader public.
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36 MEASURING THE PLAN’S PROGRESS
Reporting Metrics Process
The Economic Development staff will undertake a quarterly reporting process that provides the City Council with useful information on overall market trends and staff actions. This structure allows the Economic Development staff to tailor their actions in response to the broader regional and national market trends that are otherwise difficult to control. This Plan recommends that the staff prepare a presentation that includes the following three components as part of its quarterly updates:

1. Overview of Trends and Conditions
a. Regional economic trends
b. Real estate market trends in Union City as compared to reference cities (Hayward, Newark, Fremont)
c. Major real estate transactions and updates

2. Report on Economic Development Activities from the Past Quarter a. Summarize the objectives addressed and progress made

3. Set Staff Activities for the Upcoming Quarter
a. Summarize proposed actions and events taking place in the upcoming quarter b. Work with Council to set priorities regarding which goals, objectives, and strategies should have highest priority in the coming quarter based on information provided in the “Overview of Trends and Conditions” and previous quarter progress Before presenting this information before the City Council, the Economic Development staff should provide an update to the Economic Development Advisory Team (EDAT) for their input on activities to prioritize in the upcoming quarter. Feedback from the City Council (and EDAT) may encompass a review of the efficacy of existing strategies, suggestions for implementation, or changes to the regularity of their use with consideration to the staff’s capacity to perform each strategy. The following section details each strategy’s recommended timeline for implementation and performance indicators.

Implementation Matrix
This report also contains an implementation matrix for each goal that specifies the strategies’ timing, geographic focus, responsible parties, and performance metric/measure.

The timing for implementation designates whether a strategy is ongoing or has a target completion year. “Ongoing” is for strategies that staff continuously work on throughout the year, including responsive efforts that arise as needed. Strategies that result in a specific deliverable or require a dedicated project are assigned a year (e.g. 2026, 2027, or 2028) reflecting when staff anticipate completing of the project or deliverable. These strategies will occur within five years of the Plan’s adoption.
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37 FIGURE 221: GOAL 1 IMPLEMENTATION MATRIX
Objective Strategy Timing Geography Responsible Party
Performance
Metric/Measure
Goal 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S EXISTING BUSINESSES

1.1 Strengthen
communication,
engagement, and
partnership with the
local business
community

1.1(a) Organize industry-focused
events such as information
roundtables, forums, listening
sessions, networking events or other
formats as appropriate. Ongoing
Industrial
Districts
Economic
Development
2 or more annual
meetings with
industry
representatives

1.1(b) Meet quarterly with the
Economic Development Advisory
Team Ongoing City
Economic
Development
4 meetings
annually

1.1(c) Recognize and celebrate the
achievements of businesses and
their contributions to the community Ongoing City
Economic
Development
4 or more
Proclamations for
Businesses

1.1(d) Collaborate with the Union
City Chamber of Commerce to
conduct outreach to their
membership regarding programs
and information that support Union
City businesses. Work to determine
priorities for each year that will
inform the scope of work of the
agreement between the City and
Chamber. Ongoing
Industrial/Retail
Districts
Economic
Development
2 or more joint
events annually
Review and
update contract
scope

1.1(e) Maintain and regularly update
the Union City internal business
database for economic development
communications. Ongoing City
Economic
Development
Update Business
Data quarterly
Monthly new
business and
closed business
report; for internal
and Chamber of
Commerce

1.1(f) Assist businesses who are
establishing or expanding their
business including but not limited to
obtaining necessary permitting,
identifying funding support, and
receiving training on business
operations, etc. Ongoing City
Economic
Development
Number of
businesses
assisted

1.1(g) Prioritize engagement with
the City’s top sales tax generators
and major employers to remain up
to date on any growth opportunities
or challenges they may be facing. Ongoing City
Economic
Development
Number of
businesses
engaged that are
on the top 25
sales tax
generator list

1.1(h) Promote the City’s diverse
industrial sector through
collaborative events that educate
the public on the type of businesses
in the City. (i.e. Manufacturing Day) 2026
Industrial
Districts
Economic
Development 1 event annually
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38 1.2 Implement best
practices to
maintain clean and
safe Industrial and
commercial
districts.

1.2(a) Collaborate with the City’s
Homeless Task Force to address
issues related to homelessness in
the City’s industrial and commercial
districts. Ongoing
Industrial/Retail
Districts
Economic
Development;
Homelessness Task
Force
Number of
Businesses
assisted with
homelessness
issues

1.2(b) Educate and train businesses
on best practices for Crime
Prevention Through Environmental
Design (CPTED), emergency
preparedness training, and other
strategies for sharing responsibilities
for keeping businesses and property
safe. Ongoing
Industrial/Retail
Districts
Economic
Development, Police
Department
Number of
businesses
engaged on the
topic of CPTED
Number of
businesses and
business
employees that
completed
emergency
preparedness
trainings

1.3 Connect
businesses to
federal, state,
regional and local
business resources.

1.3(a) Regularly engage business
support partners to maintain
relationships and plan for upcoming
business needs (i.e. SBA, Alameda
County Workforce Development
Board, SBDC, and GOBIZ). Ongoing Region
Economic
Development
2 or more
meetings with
partners annually

1.3(b) Routinely update
informational materials for new
businesses describing available
business resources. Ongoing City
Economic
Development
Update
informational
materials
annually

1.3(c) Collaborate with the Union
City Chamber of Commerce on
initiatives that support the Union City
business community. Ongoing City
Economic
Development, Union
City Chamber of
Commerce
1 or more small
business-focused
event annually

1.4: Support
existing small
businesses and
small business
start-ups in Union
City.

1.4(a) Prepare and maintain a
“Starting a Business in Union City
101” Guide which includes
information regarding resources and
contacts including but not limited to
those offered by the City, the East Bay
Small Business Development Center,
and the U.S. Small Business
Administration. 2026 City
Economic
Development
Prepare Business
Guide
Strategy 1.4(b) Organize and deliver
regular workshops and educational
sessions to provide small businesses
with practical information, tools, and
resources to support business
sustainability and growth. Ongoing City
Economic
Development 2 events annually
Strategy 1.4(c) Plan and execute
promotional campaigns with local
partners that encourage residents to
support Union City businesses (i.e.

Shop Local/Small Business Week,
Restaurant Week, etc). 2027
Commercial
Areas
Economic
Development/Chamber
of Commerce 1 event a year
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39 FIGURE 222: GOAL 2 IMPLEMENTATION MATRIX
Objective Strategy Timing Geography
Responsible
Party
Performance
Metric/Measure
Goal 2: ATTRACT NEW BUSINESSES TO UNION CITY

2.1 Prioritize
efforts to attract
new businesses
that are a good
match with the
City’s available
real estate
assets and
infrastructure,
and/or the skills
and levels of
education held
by Union City
residents,
focusing on life
sciences,
advanced
manufacturing,
and professional
scientific and
technical
services, and
emerging
sectors.

2.1(a) Work with brokers,
developers, and individual
businesses to provide information
necessary to assist with property
acquisition, investment and
location decisions. Ongoing City
Economic
Development Number of engagements

2.1(b) Collaborate with the East
Bay Economic Development
Alliance, Silicon Valley Economic
Development Alliance, industry
and trade groups, and other East
Bay cities to understand regional
industry trends and economic
cycles. Ongoing Region
Economic
Development
Attendance at monthly
EBEDA and SVEDA
meetings

2.1(c) Meet and communicate
regularly with industrial brokers,
developers, and property owners to
understand the local and regional
industrial real estate market and
identify ways that Union City can
take advantage of emerging
opportunities or address
challenging trends. Ongoing Region
Economic
Development,
EBEDA
4 or more meetings with
brokers a year

2.1(d) Engage with developers or
business owners to identify actions
the City could take to update its
land use policies (i.e. General Plan,
Zoning, etc.), processes for project
approval, or otherwise remove
barriers to investing in Union City. Ongoing City/Region Economic
Development,
Planning
4 or more meetings a
year with stakeholders
who have been through a
recent project

2.1(e) Explore opportunities for
offering business incentives to
support companies interested in
establishing operations in Union
City. 2027 City
Economic
Development
Report on potential
options and case studies

2.1(f) Offer individualized site
selection assistance including
demographic reports to assist
businesses in their customer and
workforce profile needs. Ongoing City/Region
Economic
Development
Number of businesses
assisted in site selection
Demographic Report

2.2 Work with
shopping center
owners to attract
new tenants that
serve Union
City’s diverse
population.

2.2(a) Meet with the City’s
shopping center owners to gather
information regarding how each
center is performing, and to
identify ways in which the City can
support in areas such as
permitting infrastructure,
addressing crime, matching new
business start-ups with vacant
space, etc. Ongoing
Retail
Districts
Economic
Development
Outreach to Shopping
Centers property
owners/representatives
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40 2.2(b) Engage with the
International Council of Shopping
Centers (ICSC) and local retail
brokers to track up-and-coming
retail trends and identify potential
national, regional, and local retail
tenants who might be a good fit for
Union City. Ongoing
Retail
Districts /
Region
Economic
Development
Attendance of Economic
Development Staff

2.2(c) Develop promotional
materials to support retail
attraction to Union City’s
commercial areas. 2026 City
Economic
Development,
Information
Technology
Promotional Material for
distribution
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41 FIGURE 223: GOAL 3: IMPLEMENTATION MATRIX
Objective Strategy Timing Geography
Responsible
Parties
Performance
Metric/Measure
Goal 3: FOSTER INVESTMENT IN UNION CITY’S INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS

3.1 Facilitate
redevelopmen
t of, or
reinvestment
in,
underutilized
industrial
properties in
the City’s
industrial
areas

3.1(a) Track property
transactions and reach out to
new property owners to
provide information about City
processes and programs, or
its partners, on services such
as workforce training,
obtaining development
entitlements, working with
local utilities, etc. Ongoing
Industrial
Districts
Economic
Development,
Union City
Chamber of
Commerce
Percentage of New Businesses
Receiving "Welcome" Materials

3.1(b) Continue engagement
with PG&E to enhance the
ability of businesses to
connect and upgrade their
electric and gas utilities in a
timely manner and assess
power supply and needs of
existing businesses and future
industries to ensure there is
adequate infrastructure. 2027
Industrial
Districts
Economic
Development;
Public Works Internal Power Supply Plan

3.1(c) Continue to participate
in the City’s interdepartmental
Development Review
Committee to ensure a timely
and predictable permit
process. Ongoing City/Region
Economic and
Community
Development
(Economic
Development,
Planning, Building,
Environmental
Programs, Fire),
Public Works
Feedback from businesses on City
approval process

3.2 Facilitate
reinvestment
in Union City's
Shopping
Centers

3.2(a) Work with interested
shopping center owners to
prepare a SWOT analysis for
their property and work on an
implementation plan to help
these owners address their
property’s weaknesses and
leverage opportunities. 2027
Marketplace
Subarea
Economic
Development,
Planning
SWOT Analysis for each shopping
center

3.2(b) Continue to support a
public private partnership with
the Union Landing Property
Owners Association (ULPOA)
and the continued renewal of
the Property Business
Improvement District (PBID). Ongoing
Union
Landing
Economic
Development
Interactions with Union Landing
PBID
Regularly attend ULPOA Board
meeting on behalf of the City

3.2(c) Promote intensification
and transformation of existing
shopping centers to address
changing retail and economic
trends. 2027
Commercial
Areas
Economic
Development
Number of meetings with shopping
center owners and managers
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42 3.2(d) Manage and maintain
City owned pylons signs within
Union Landing to ensure
functionality of lighting and
that business signs remain
filled and reflective of retail
offerings. Ongoing
Union
Landing
Economic
Development
Finance
Public Works
Fully functional and filled pylon
signs

3.3 Strengthen
multi-modal
connections
between
Union City’s
business
districts and
the City’s
existing
amenities

3.3(a) Promote and educate
businesses about the City’s
commercial and industrial
districts through strong
multimodal connections
between the BART station and
the Marketplace subarea,
industrial districts, Union
Landing and the Historic
Alvarado District. 2027 City
Economic
Development,
Public Works
Evaluation of Feasibility of New
Multimodal Connections

3.3(b) Continue to support
and promote the Union City
Transit services including the
Flea. Ongoing City
Economic
Development,
Union City Transit
Union City Transit and Flea
Ridership; Business Feedback on
Union City Transit Use

3.4 Enhance
the vitality of
the Historic
Alvarado
District as a
destination for
shopping,
services, and
dining.

3.4(a) Update existing
strategies for the Historic
Alvarado District that address
urban design, placemaking,
and economic development
considerations including
business attraction and
retention. 2027
Historic
Alvarado
District
Economic
Development,
Planning, Public
Works
Historic Alvarado District Strategic
Plan
Strategy 3.4(b) Engage both
City and community
stakeholders to evaluate
opportunities to increase
visibility of the area. 2027
Historic
Alvarado
District
Economic
Development
Meetings with identified
stakeholders
Objective 3.5
Facilitate
development
of City-owned
properties
Strategy 3.5(a) Prepare an
inventory of vacant City-owned
property to inform a strategy
for disposition and
development of opportunity
sites. 2027
Commercial
Areas
Economic
Development,
Planning, Public
Works
Documented list of City owned
properties
Strategy 3.5(b) Develop
marketing materials to
highlight opportunity sites 2026
Commercial
Areas
Economic
Development,
Planning, Public
Works Marketing Material
45 of 88
43 FIGURE 224: GOAL 4: IMPLEMENTATION MATRIX
Objective Strategy Timing Geography
Responsible
Parties
Performance
Metric/Measure
Goal 4: Tell Union City's Story of Success

4.1 Promote
Union City by
telling a strong
story

4.1(a) Update a Union City
marketing plan that includes
information about the City’s
demographics, resident workforce,
business mix, types of real estate
opportunities and local
assets/amenities; as well as
promoting services the City offers
to businesses and property
owners. 2026 City
Economic
Development,
Information
Technology
Development of Marketing
Plan and Updated Website

4.1(b) Continue to participate in
state and regional efforts to
promote Bay Area cities including
but not limited to participation in
the East Bay Economic
Development Alliance, Silicon
Valley Economic Development
Alliance, California Association of
Local Economic Development, and
ICSC. Ongoing State/Region
Economic
Development
Attendance at Events
hosted by Regional and
State Economic
Development
Organizations

4.1(c) Maintain basic collateral
materials that promote Union
City’s distinct assets and
amenities, such as the City’s smalltown character within a major metropolitan region, access to big
box stores and unique ethnic
restaurants and grocery stores,
close to regional parks, but also to
San Francisco and the Peninsula. 2026 City
Economic
Development Development of Materials

4.1(d) Update the economic
development webpage on the
City’s website. 2026 City/Region
Economic
Development
Distribute Info Sheet and
Publish on City Website

4.2 Keep
community
members and
local businesses
informed and
involved

4.2(a) Present quarterly updates to
the City Council on economic
development related data trends
and projects. Ongoing Region
Economic
Development Present update quarterly

4.2(b) Post economic development
related news and stories on the
City’s social media. Ongoing City
Economic
Development Number of posts per year

4.2(c) Educate key stakeholders in
the community (i.e. business
leaders, commissioners, civic
groups) in order to serve as
ambassadors who promote the
City’s brand and core marketing
messages to the broader public. 2026 City
Economic
Development
Number of stakeholders
educated
46 of 88
44 47 of 88

CITY COUNCIL

STUDY SESSION
JUNE 9, 2026
48 of 88
Review of Economic Development
Strategic Plan
49 of 88
3 Establish clear
economic
development
goals and
priorities
Identify shortand long-term
focused
actions to
support goals
and objectives
Provide clear
metrics for
measuring
progress in
executing the
Plan’s actions
Economic Development Strategic Plan Purpose
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The Economic Development Strategic Plan Can
• Build partnerships with businesses/ brokers to retain / attract businesses • Promote the City as a location of choice
• Keep city leaders informed of how their decisions and/or policies impact businesses and/or the ability to grow the economy/fiscal stability • Work with regional / State partners to direct policy / legislation impacting businesses and voice business challenges and opportunities
• Ensure businesses have access/knowledge to state/regional resources and technical assistance
The Economic Development Strategic Plan Cannot
• Control market conditions – Can shift strategies to respond to changing conditions • Control property not owned by the City - Can ensure that zoning in place to facilitate uses desired by the decision-makers
4 51 of 88
52 of 88
6 Why Economic Development Matters to Union City?
6 $
Sales
Tax
Industry
Mix /Jobs
for Local
Residents
Property Tax
Robust
General Fund
Local Businesses and Commercial Real Estate Support Union City’s Fiscal and Economic Health
53 of 88
7 Revenue Drivers
7 • Residential
• Industrial
Property
Tax
• Retail
• Business
to
Business
Sales
Taxes
Hotel
Occupancy
Taxes
Other
Taxes
Vacancy
Rates
Acquisitions
Real
Estate
54 of 88
Who Participated in Creating the EDSP?
City Council
• Mayor Singh
• Vice Mayor Patiño
• Councilmember
Nishihira
• Councilmember Wang
• Councilmember
Sakakihara
Businesses
• USK (Adv. Manufacturing)
• Azimuth (Semiconductor
Packaging)
• Mizuho (Adv.

Manufacturing)
• GCM (Adv.

Manufacturing)
• Sigmatron (Adv.

Manufacturing)
• Tenaya Therapeutics
(Biotechnology)
Property Owners
• Lu Tipping (Alvarado
Historic District)
• Sywest (Union Landing)
• Pappas Investments
(Union Landing)
• Jessica Kane (Union
Square Marketplace)
Real Estate Experts
• Bob Ferraro (Industrial
Broker)
• Carol Therien (Retail
Broker)
• Fernando Cuebas (Retail
Broker)
• Tarlton (Life Sciences
Developer)
• Woodstock Development
• City Ventures (Residential
Developer)
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STRATEGIC PLAN STRUCTURE

VISION GOALS OBJECTIVES STRATEGIES
9 1 4 13 45
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Economic Development Vision
Union City is a great place to do business
based on transparent and responsive
government services. Union City is committed
to retaining its existing businesses, attracting
new businesses that include high-wage jobs
for Union City residents, and growing the
City’s revenues. Union City will continue
offering clean and safe business districts and
improving the quality of life of residents.
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Strategic Plan Goals
Support Existing
Business
Attract New
Businesses
Foster
Investment
Tell Union City’s
Story
58 of 88

OVERVIEW OF

OBJECTIVES AND

STRATEGIES
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13 GOAL 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S

EXISTING BUSINESSES
Objective 1.1: Strengthen communication, engagement, and partnership with the local business community.

Strategy 1.1(a) Organize industry-focused events
Strategy 1.1(b) Meet quarterly with the EDAT
Strategy 1.1(c) Recognize and celebrate the achievements of businesses Strategy 1.1(d) Collaborate with the Chamber of Commerce to conduct outreach to their membership
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14 GOAL 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S

EXISTING BUSINESSES
(cont.) Objective 1.1: Strengthen communication, engagement, and partnership with the local business community.

Strategy 1.1(f) Provide assistance to businesses
Strategy 1.1(g) Prioritize engagement with the top sales tax generators and major employers
Strategy 1.1(h) Promote the City’s diverse industrial sector through collaborative events 61 of 88
15 GOAL 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S

EXISTING BUSINESSES
Objective 1.2: Implement best practices to maintain clean and safe industrial and commercial districts
Strategy 1.2(a) Collaborate with the City’s Homeless Task Force Strategy 1.2(b) Educate and train businesses on CPTED and emergency preparedness trainings
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16 GOAL 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S

EXISTING BUSINESSES
Objective 1.3: Connect businesses to federal, state, regional and local business resources
Strategy 1.3(a) Regularly engage business support partners Strategy 1.3(b) Routinely update resource informational materials Strategy 1.3(c) Collaborate with the Chamber of Commerce on business support initiatives
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17 GOAL 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S

EXISTING BUSINESSES
Objective 1.4: Support existing small businesses and small business start-ups in Union City
Strategy 1.4(a) Prepare and maintain a “Starting a Business in Union City 101” Guide Strategy 1.4(b) Organize and deliver regular workshops and educational sessions Strategy 1.4(c) Plan and execute small business promotional campaigns with local partners
64 of 88
18 GOAL 2: ATTRACT BUSINESSES TO UNION CITY
Objective 2.1: Prioritize efforts to attract new businesses Strategy 2.1(a) Work with brokers, developers, and individual businesses to provide information necessary to assist with property acquisition
Strategy 2.1(b) Collaborate with the East Bay Economic Development Alliance, Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance, industry and trade groups Strategy 2.1(c) Meet and communicate regularly with industrial brokers, developers, and property owners
Strategy 2.1(d) Engage with developers or business owners to identify opportunities for process improvement
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19 GOAL 2: ATTRACT BUSINESSES TO UNION CITY
(cont.) Objective 2.1: Prioritize efforts to attract new businesses Strategy 2.1(e) Explore opportunities for offering business incentives Strategy 2.1(f) Offer individualized site selection assistance 66 of 88
20 GOAL 2: ATTRACT BUSINESSES TO UNION CITY
Objective 2.2: Work with shopping center owners to attract new tenants that serve Union City’s diverse population
Strategy 2.2(a) Meet with the City’s shopping center owners to gather information regarding how each center is performing
Strategy 2.2(b) Engage with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and local retail brokers
Strategy 2.2(c) Develop promotional materials to support retail attraction to Union City’s commercial areas
67 of 88
21 GOAL 3: FOSTER INVESTMENT IN UNION CITY’S

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Objective 3.1: Strengthen communication, engagement, and partnership with the local business community
Strategy 3.1(a) Track property transactions and reach out to new property owners to provide information
Strategy 3.1(b) Continue engagement with PG&E
Strategy 3.1(c) Continue to participate in the City’s interdepartmental Development Review Committee to ensure a timely and predictable permit process 68 of 88
22 GOAL 3: FOSTER INVESTMENT IN UNION CITY’S

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Objective 3.2: Facilitate reinvestment in Union City’s Shopping Centers Strategy 3.1(a) Work with interested shopping center owners to prepare a SWOT analysis for their property
Strategy 3.1(b) Continue to support a public private partnership with the Union Landing Property Owners Association (ULPOA)
Strategy 3.1(c) Promote intensification and transformation of existing shopping centers Strategy 3.1(d) Manage and maintain City owned pylons signs 69 of 88
23 GOAL 3: FOSTER INVESTMENT IN UNION CITY’S

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Objective 3.3: Strengthen multi-modal connections between Union City’s business districts and the City’s existing amenities
Strategy 3.3(a) Promote and educate businesses about the City’s commercial and industrial districts through strong multimodal connections between the BART station Strategy 3.1(b) Continue to support and promote the Union City Transit services including the Flea
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24 GOAL 3: FOSTER INVESTMENT IN UNION CITY’S

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Objective 3.4: Enhance the vitality of the Historic Alvarado District as a destination for shopping, services, and dining
Strategy 3.1(a) Update existing strategies for the Historic Alvarado District Strategy 3.1(b) Engage both City and community stakeholders to evaluate opportunities to increase visibility of the area
71 of 88
25 GOAL 3: FOSTER INVESTMENT IN UNION CITY’S

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Objective 3.5: Facilitate development of City-owned properties Strategy 3.5(a) Prepare an inventory of vacant City-owned property Strategy 3.5(b) Develop marketing materials to highlight opportunity sites 72 of 88
26 GOAL 4: TELL UNION CITY’S STORY OF SUCCESS
Objective 4.1: Promote Union City by telling a strong story Strategy 4.1(a) Update a Union City marketing plan
Strategy 4.1(b) Continue to participate in state and regional efforts to promote Bay Area cities Strategy 4.1(c) Maintain basic collateral materials that promote Union City Strategy 4.1(d) Update the economic development webpage on the City’s website 73 of 88
27 GOAL 4: TELL UNION CITY’S STORY OF SUCCESS
Objective 4.2: Keep community members and local businesses informed and involved
Strategy 4.2(a) Present quarterly updates to the City Council on economic development related data trends and projects
Strategy 4.2(b) Post economic development related news and stories on the City’s social media Strategy 4.1(c) Maintain basic collateral materials that promote Union City Strategy 4.2(c) Educate key stakeholders in the community (i.e. business leaders, commissioners, civic groups) to serve as ambassadors who promote the City 74 of 88
28 MOVING AHEAD
2026 WORK PLAN
Market Sector Indicators and
Measuring Progress
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29 Market Sector Indicators
Why We Track Them?
• Monitor Opportunities for Growth, Expansion
• Monitor Trends that Negatively Impact Economy
• Understand Conditions that Requires Shift in Strategies • Impacts on City, Business Fiscal Health, Jobs, and Revenues • Understanding Trends – Growth, Retrenchment
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30 Market Sector Indicators
• Real Estate Vacancy Rates: Industrial, Warehouse, Research and Development, Commercial
• Retail Vacancy Rates
• Major Leases and Renewals
• Sales Tax Revenues: Retail and Business-to-Business
• Hotel Occupancy Taxes
• Major Land/Property Acquisitions
• Business License Applications and Renewals
• Building Permits
Anything not on the list that we should be reporting out on? 77 of 88
31 Examples of Market Sector Conditions that Impact Local Economic Development
• Inflation - cost of gas, food, retail products, construction, labor, capital, utilities
• Geopolitical events
• Supply chain challenges - inability to receive products/materials, tariffs • Lack and cost of available land
• Retail transformation - bankruptcies, retrenchment and/or closures Market Sector Indicators
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32 ED Staff will provide quarterly updates to the City Council which include:
• Overview of relevant market indicators
• Overview of staff accomplishments, strategies implemented during the previous quarter, and progress towards performance measure • Updates on relevant economic development market trends / topics Measuring Progress
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Measuring Progress Prioritizing
Goals,
Objectives,
Strategies
Monitoring
Market and
Local
Conditions
Reporting
Quarterly
Progress to
City Council
Evaluate
Whether We
Are on Track
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34 Implementation: Planning for Success
Timing and Tracking
• The Strategic Plan designates whether a strategy is ongoing or has a target completion year.
• “Ongoing” is for strategies that staff continuously works on throughout the year, including efforts that arise as needed and require rapid response
• Strategies that result in a specific deliverable or require a dedicated project are assigned a completion year (e.g. 2026, 2027, or 2028) 81 of 88
35 Ongoing Work
•Chamber Collaborations
• Maintain and Monitor Market Sector
Indicators
• 2 EDAT Meetings
•Update and Track Union City Indicators
• New and Existing Business Support
•Internal Department Collaborations
• Homeless Task Force
•City Manager Initiatives
•Regional Collaboration with Economic
Development Partners
Implementation: Planning for Success
GOAL 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S EXISTING

BUSINESSES
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36 2026 Deliverables
• Industrial Roundtable
• Emergency Preparedness Trainings
• Establish new Chamber Agreement
• Manufacturing Day
• UPRR engagement to address homeless
encampments in the industrial sector
• Establish Small Business Promotion –
Open Rewards
Implementation: Planning for Success
GOAL 1: SUSTAIN, RETAIN AND GROW UNION CITY’S EXISTING

BUSINESSES
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37 •Broker and new business support (On-going)
• Site selection support (On-going)
•Develop promotional material for shopping
center retail attraction (2026 Deliverable)
• Targeted outreach to at least 2 shopping center
property owners (2026 Deliverable)
Implementation: Planning for Success
GOAL 2: ATTRACT NEW BUSINESSES TO UNION CITY
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38 • Track property transactions and engage
property owners (On-going)
•Maintain PG&E engagement to support
business needs (On-going)
• Participate in City’s Development Review
Committee (On-going)
•Continued support of ULPOA / PBID (On-going)
• Promote and educate business on access to
the FLEA (On-going)
•Develop marketing materials to highlight
opportunities sites (2026 Deliverable)
Implementation: Planning for Success
GOAL 3: FOSTER INVESTMENT IN UNION CITY’S INDUSTRIAL AND

COMMERCIAL AREAS
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39 •Regional participation and
collaboration with Economic
Development Partners (Ongoing)
•Develop Union City
Marketing Plan (2026
Deliverable)
•Update Economic
Development Webpage
(2026 Deliverable)
Implementation: Planning for Success
GOAL 4: TELL UNION CITY’S STORY OF SUCCESS
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40 Next Steps
• June 2026 - City Council input
incorporated into the plan
• July 2026 – City Council review of
Final Economic Development
Strategic Plan
• December 2026 – Staff Report to
City Council on Market Sector
Indicators, Performance Indicators
and Progress on Priorities
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41 Recommendation
• Staff recommends the City Council provide feedback on the draft Economic Development Strategic Plan, Work Program priorities and ask any clarifying questions
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