Downtown Walnut Creek's biggest vacancy and its newest local storefronts are heading the same direction this fall. Both are getting smaller. Broadway Plaza's owner now says the empty former Neiman Marcus building is worth more split into smaller shops than leased to one large tenant. A block away on North Main Street, the spaces filling up are compact, and most of the people filling them already have roots on the block.
So the downtown changes since summer follow a pattern. One big project fell through, and several small storefronts opened.
The corner that was supposed to be RH
The largest change downtown this year is a project that won't be built. RH, the home furnishings company once called Restoration Hardware, withdrew its plan for a gallery and restaurant at Broadway Plaza. The project would have replaced the vacant former Neiman Marcus building and the Chico's store next door with a four-building luxury complex.
The withdrawal came with little warning. On May 29, a project manager at MBH Architects emailed Walnut Creek's planning department asking the city to stop reviewing the application. That was about three months after RH presented its plans to the Design Review Commission and about a week before the project was due at the Planning Commission. The email gave no reason. Mayor Kevin Wilk called the reversal "shocking," as Bay Area Telegraph reported. City officials had said construction would start in mid-2026 and the RH location could open in early 2028. As of this October, that construction would already be underway.
What Macerich says comes next
The reason surfaced in August, from the landlord rather than the retailer. Macerich owns Broadway Plaza. Its chief executive, Jackson Hsieh, told analysts the center is short enough on space that splitting the Neiman Marcus building into smaller shops will earn more than RH would have paid. The Registry reported this on August 6.
That plan fits what has been happening at the rest of the Plaza since summer. The recent arrivals are specialty brands in modest spaces:
| Store | Location | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Läderach | 1275 Broadway Plaza, food court next to Macy's | Open since an Aug. 14 ribbon cutting |
| New Balance | Broadway Plaza | Operating, with a "Just Landed" in-store offer Oct. 3–10 |
| Sur La Table | 1205 Broadway Plaza, former P.F. Chang's space | "Opening late fall," no date announced |
| Rowan | Broadway Plaza | Listed as coming soon, no date announced |
Läderach is a Swiss chocolatier, family-owned since 1962 and known for its FrischSchoggi, extra-large slabs of fresh chocolate. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Sur La Table, which started at Seattle's Pike Place Market in 1972, lists knife sharpening and a gift registry among the services planned for the Walnut Creek store. Rowan is an ear-piercing studio and jewelry brand with more than 100 locations nationally. It says its piercings are done only by licensed nurses.
Each of these is a single-category shop sized for one purpose. Macerich's comments suggest the empty department store will be divided along the same lines.
The brand that tried the Plaza first
VICI Collection shows what this looks like from the tenant side. VICI was founded in Walnut Creek in 2012 by Sandra Sayegh Dudum and Aimee Dudum Colorado. It grew from a family-run boutique into a national direct-to-consumer fashion brand. It ran a store at The Mercer downtown until summer 2020. In September 2025 it opened a pop-up at 1211 Broadway Plaza, across from Nordstrom. The pop-up was planned to run about six weeks and was extended through the holidays.
For its permanent return, VICI picked North Main Street. The new 2,200-square-foot boutique is at 1366 N. Main St., in the former Paia Mercantile space next to Ananas Coffee. It held a soft opening on Sept. 10 and a grand opening on Sept. 12. The store carries a jewelry assortment sold only at the Walnut Creek location. It is one of three VICI stores, along with Nashville and an outlet in Fairfield. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
So a Walnut Creek company ran a season inside the mall and then signed a permanent lease for a street-front store a short walk away. VICI hasn't said publicly why it chose the street. The decision does put the brand with the other recent North Main openings, in spaces a fraction of the size of the department store sitting empty at the Plaza.
North Main's small spaces, filled from the block
The three most recent changes on North Main are within a few hundred numbers of each other:
- 1366 N. Main St.: VICI, in the former Paia Mercantile space, next to Ananas Coffee.
- 1399 N. Main St.: Milky Flakes, a family-owned shop serving shaved frozen milk and soft serve, reported open in early August. It took over the former A-1 Shoe & Luggage Repair space. A-1 moved around the corner and is still in business.
- 1521 N. Main St.: Salt & Lime, a planned full-service Mexican restaurant in the former Oyama Sushi space.
Salt & Lime shows the pattern most clearly. Oyama closed in May after nearly 13 years at the address. An earlier commercial listing put the space at about 1,641 square feet, smaller than VICI's new boutique. The company behind the restaurant, DTV Corp, applied on June 30 to transfer a Type 47 license, which covers beer, wine and spirits, to the address. State records list Saul David Tallarico as chief executive and Antone Sean Dudum as chief financial officer. Dudum is publicly identified as an owner of 1515 Restaurant & Lounge, directly next door at 1515 N. Main St. If it opens as planned, the same operators will run two different dining rooms side by side on the block.
The kitchen will be led by Chelsea Ozuna, a culinary graduate of Diablo Valley College who has cooked around the world. Her plans include Mexican dishes made to order, sauces and salsas made from scratch, and rotating specials, according to Bay Area Telegraph. Open interviews for staff were held Sept. 8. As of Oct. 2, the restaurant's website still said "Coming Soon," with the North Main address and the phone number (925) 457-5456, and no confirmed opening date. The July license application shouldn't be taken as confirmation that the license has been approved.
The rest of the downtown grid
The same pattern of small spaces turning over shows up a few blocks south, along Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Locust Street.
Saatva opened its mattress showroom on Sept. 15 at 1619 Mt. Diablo Blvd., in the former Sleep Number location. One brand replaced another in the same footprint, with no gap in between.
Lettuce Restaurant & Catering at 1632 Locust St. was badly damaged by a fire on Aug. 19. No one was hurt. As of a Sept. 9 roundup it was still closed indefinitely, with no reopening timeline announced.
Bike service moved too. Clayton Bikes held its last repair day on Sept. 3. Its two mechanics moved to Encina Bikes at 2901 Ygnacio Valley Road. The owners said they were cutting overhead and focusing on service, according to Patch. If you had a tune-up history at Clayton Bikes, the same mechanics now work at Encina.
The one large new project downtown is housing above retail. At its Aug. 27 meeting, Walnut Creek's Planning Commission unanimously approved an eight-story building with 104 apartments at 1532 Mt. Diablo Blvd. The developer, Bay Area firm Align Real Estate, plans to replace the surface parking lot there with an 89-foot residential building with ground-floor retail. When it's built, its ground floor will add more small storefronts to the boulevard.
What to check before you go
Several of these changes are still in progress:
- Salt & Lime: "Coming Soon" as of Oct. 2. Its Instagram account is @saltandlimewc.
- Sur La Table: "Opening late fall" at 1205 Broadway Plaza, with no day announced.
- Lettuce: closed indefinitely after the August fire.
- The former Neiman Marcus building: to be split into smaller shops, according to Macerich.
The next clear sign of where Broadway Plaza is headed will be the shops that move into the old Neiman Marcus space.
Downtown changes like these affect what a nearby home offers day to day. If you own a home within walking distance of North Main or Broadway Plaza and want to understand how this fall's changes fit into your property's story, Brian Rochford and our family-led team would be glad to talk it through. Request a complimentary market evaluation.
