This article first appeared in Berkeleyside and is reprinted with permission.
The JCC East Bay is selling the Walnut Street building it has called home for nearly five decades as it moves its operations from North Berkeley to Oakland’s Rockridge District.
Founded in 1978 as the Berkeley-Richmond JCC, the community center serves 9,000 people each year. It is home to a popular preschool and after-school program and hosts a wide variety of classes, workshops and other events. The center changed its name to JCC East Bay in 2006.
The building, formerly home to Garfield Junior High School, was built in 1915 and designated as a Berkeley landmark in 1980. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“As the needs of our community grow, and the historic building at 1414 Walnut ages, we need to be in spaces where we can meet the current and future demands of our community,” JCC East Bay CEO Melissa Chapman wrote in an email to community members on Feb. 20.
The email noted the challenging environment of the building such as a lack of heating, air conditioning and adequate parking. The size of the building also limits the enrollment for its preschool and after-school programs. Selling the property will give the nonprofit “critical transition cash and reserve funds, which are vital for our future and financial stability,” according to the email.
A new 3-acre Rockridge campus is under construction with an opening set for March 2026. Plans for the new campus were unveiled three years ago, though the fate of the Walnut Street building wasn’t clear at the time.
The East Bay Jewish Community Campus will become the “hub for Jewish life” and home to 15-20 other Jewish organizations, according to its website. The campus will feature a teen center, Hebrew immersion after-school programs, holiday gatherings, cultural events and more.
The preschool will open on the new campus in August 2026 with a planned enrollment of 120 children, double the current enrollment of the Berkeley location.
Programs and services will continue at the Walnut Street location for around three years, and the organization is seeking a new long-term space in Berkeley for its after-school programs.
“We are 100% committed to continuing to provide services in Berkeley and are investigating a number of possible options, including a potential lease-back of the space for a period of time,” Chapman said.
She added that no staff positions would be eliminated.
Berkeley resident Sylvie Carr has two daughters, ages 3 and 5, enrolled in preschool and after-school care at JCC East Bay. Her family may have to find a new preschool for her youngest daughter, who is not yet 1 and who would have enrolled in 2026.
“We’ll miss having this hub of Jewish life in Berkeley,” she said. “There are always several preschool families who are visiting scholars or postdocs from Israel whose kids attend, given its proximity to campus, and I hope that can continue in Oakland, but worry since it’s much farther from Cal and its University Village. I also worry about it being farther away for many of the longtime teachers who already have long commutes.”