From Bank Vault To Lamorinda Creekside Destination

LAMORINDA, CA — Orinda has carefully cultivated a downtown presence as a village-meets-walkable hub — the kind of place where everything is available, but the pressures of everyday life are escapable.

Now the City of Orinda is advancing a sweeping redevelopment of its downtown core by converting a vacant financial building into a multi-venue dining and social destination centered on San Pablo Creek.

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The plan involves converting the former Bank of America building at 31 Orinda Way into the CreekHaus.

The overhaul of the shuttered banking site includes a layered commercial campus that blends coffee service, restaurant operations, outdoor gathering spaces, and private event facilities in Orinda Village that support morning-to-night activity.

Equator Coffees anchors daytime operations, while PizzaHacker, and a beer garden drive evening foot traffic under a creekside oak canopy.

The applicant PAYMUN expanded the plan to include an upscale bistro, cocktail bar, lounge seating, and private event rooms. The design team integrated outdoor decks that face San Pablo Creek to shift activity toward the waterway and strengthen pedestrian use in the downtown corridor.

The Orinda Planning Commission reviewed and approved revised design elements, including elevated deck configurations and building modifications. Commissioners evaluated signage, massing, and circulation impacts before granting conditional approval while rejecting a proposed digital kiosk sign, according to documents.

The Bank of America branch closing and vacancy left a prominent gap in Orinda Village’s commercial core.

The developer described CreekHaus as a “community gathering place” designed to function as a social hub with year-round programming, food service, and flexible indoor-outdoor use.

Construction plans position CreekHaus as one of the most significant private redevelopment projects in Orinda Village in recent years, reshaping a long-vacant institutional site into a hospitality-driven destination anchored along the creek corridor but also anchoring broader downtown planning efforts.