By early July the scaffolding had come down at the Rheem Valley Shopping Center. The chocolate brown and dark green that had covered the buildings for years were gone. In their place came white and golden-brown paint, repaired wood trim, and large gold letters spelling out each business name. Lamorinda Weekly described the change in its July 8 issue.
The new paint has a specific purpose. In June, the paper reported that U.S. Realty Partners put up the scaffolding to bring the rest of its buildings "up to Grocery Outlet's eventual standards." The center was refreshed for a store that isn't there yet. As of the most recent report, that store isn't expected until early 2027.
That gap explains most of what has changed in Moraga's commercial life this year. The anchor everyone is waiting for came first in the planning and will come last in the opening order. Meanwhile, the new businesses that have actually opened their doors were started by people who live in Moraga and used their own money.
Why the grocery store slipped
The Grocery Outlet broke ground in November 2025. Construction was planned in three stages: underground site work and utilities, then the 17,404-square-foot building itself, then interior fixtures like shelving and registers. The target was mid-2026. By June, the visible state of construction showed the store wouldn't make it. U.S. Realty Partners' Director of Construction, Susana Jagodzinski, gave the reason in Lamorinda Weekly's June 10 report:
"Unfortunately, the past few months have been really tough due to a lot of rainy weather, sewer line complications, and added issues from the County. Those extra delays are unfortunately pushing out the Grocery Outlet grand opening to early 2027. We are still hoping to improve this timeline, but at the moment, this is where things currently stand."
The July 8 follow-up said work on the store had "gone full speed ahead" and kept the early-2027 projection. We haven't found a newer public update as of early October. Early 2027 is therefore the latest projection on record, not a confirmed opening date.
The order things are arriving in
Put the year's Rheem news in order and you can see how the fenced-off lot ended up surrounded by changes:
- November 2025. Grocery Outlet breaks ground, aiming for mid-2026.
- January 2026. The Town of Moraga signs a one-year, $60,000 agreement with Kosmont Companies for on-call real estate and economic development advice, intended to encourage private investment in key properties around town.
- By June 10, 2026. Scaffolding is up on the U.S. Realty Partners buildings, and the grocery store's timeline has slipped to early 2027.
- June 24, 2026. Town Manager Scott Mitnick gives the Town Council an economic development update. It includes a planned Chipotle on the spot now occupied by the Bank of America ATM.
- By July 8, 2026. The scaffolding has come down and the new color scheme is in place.
- August 1, 2026. Zen Bros Breaks opens at 354 Park Street, next to the Rheem Theatre.
- Early 2027. The latest projected opening for Grocery Outlet.
The Chipotle hasn't been given a date in anything published so far, so for now it remains a plan.
The facade work also started with the Town. Lamorinda Weekly reported that the Town asked the property owners to "spruce up" their buildings and make the center more "cheerful." In his June update, Mitnick described the goal as a more self-sustaining local economy, not added density, and said making Moraga "look like Walnut Creek, or Palo Alto, or San Jose" was "not in the cards."
The card shop that filled a long-empty storefront
Ben and Matt Scheve grew up trading cards, and their father grew up in Moraga. The brothers had been watching the storefront at 354 Park Street sit empty for years. "We saw this spot open for years and decided it was perfect," Ben Scheve told Lamorinda Weekly. The paper said the business is fully self-funded. Ben is a CPA, and Matt is studying psychology at the University of Oregon.
Bay Area Telegraph reported that Zen Bros Breaks carries sports cards, Pokémon, and Magic: The Gathering, from sealed packs and boxes to single cards and supplies. There's also sports memorabilia on display and tables where customers can sit, trade, and play. One Piece cards are in stock too. Much of the business happens online through scheduled "breaks," where boxes are opened live on the Whatnot platform. Those online breaks are limited to buyers 18 and older.
The shop's location next to the theater is already paying off. About a month after opening, the owners described "a pretty good, steady flow every day," with an after-school rush and walk-ins from the theater crowd. Before the shop opened, Matt Scheve said, anyone in Moraga who wanted to trade cards in person had to "go far, like to Danville."
The brothers also have plans beyond the store. They've talked about trade nights at locations around town where kids can come with their parents, themed card gift bags for birthday parties, a workshop teaching kids safe negotiation, and a live break night.
The same pattern at the other end of town
Moraga's other shopping area shows a similar story. La Finestra Ristorante closed at 1419 Moraga Way after service on June 14. Chef-owner Jeff Assadi said rising operating costs made it impossible to continue. Bay Area Telegraph reported that the restaurant had been in Moraga since 2018, after its original Lafayette location was destroyed in the 2017 Lafayette Circle fire.
The space didn't go to an outside chain. Ben Rojas, who moved to Moraga with his family in 2018 and opened La Chamba Taqueria at the Rheem in late 2023, is turning it into Wayside Social. He describes it as "a burger joint with an arcade." Early renderings show a colorful, casual room, very different from the white-tablecloth Italian restaurant it replaces. The building sits directly across from the Moraga Shopping Center Safeway. As of Bay Area Telegraph's August 5 report, Rojas hadn't announced an opening date or a full menu. He has been posting previews on the restaurant's Instagram account.
Both of this year's new ventures, then, come from Moraga residents. One filled a Rheem storefront that had been empty for years. The other took over a prominent restaurant space within weeks of its closing.
The question the Rheem's paint raised
The new colors at the Rheem prompted residents to ask about the other center. Lamorinda Weekly's reporter heard several of them ask, at an outdoor event, "When will the same improvements come to the Moraga Shopping Center?" At the same June council meeting, Mitnick called the Moraga Shopping Center "heavily underdeveloped."
The Rheem has several owners, and U.S. Realty Partners is the largest. Mitnick said the Town is working with all of them toward a "mutually acceptable outcome." Dean Isaacs, a senior advisor at Kosmont, explained why the work goes slowly: "There's not a tool box you can go to; there's a different tool box for each property." Those owner-by-owner talks help explain why the repainting, the Chipotle, and the grocery store are all moving on different schedules at the same center.
What's on the calendar this month
- Now. Zen Bros Breaks is open at 354 Park Street. Combining it with a movie works because the shop is next door to the CinemaWest Rheem Theatre at 350 Park Street, which has showtimes posted through October 31.
- Sunday, October 18, 3 p.m. The Rheem Theatre hosts a one-day screening of the documentary Loving Karma, according to Patch's Moraga events calendar.
- Friday, October 30. Moraga Citizens Network lists the not-so-Haunted Hacienda at Hacienda de las Flores from 5 to 8:30 p.m., followed by a screening of Freaky Friday at dusk. The listing has no publication date, so check it again closer to the day. The Hacienda's La Sala building will stay out of use: it was already closed because of unsafe conditions, and in August the Town Council approved its demolition.
- Still pending. The Chipotle has no announced date. Wayside Social has no public opening date as of its last reported update. Grocery Outlet's latest projection is early 2027.
Changes at shopping centers like the Rheem affect how Moraga feels day to day, and over time they affect how buyers see the town. If you're wondering how the Rheem or Moraga Way projects might matter for a sale or purchase you're considering, Team Fondnazio can walk you through what's confirmed and what's still pending. Let's Connect.
