Find Apartments in Emeryville, Calif.

Emeryville exemplifies cutting-edge. Located at the base of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, which links San Francisco and Oakland, this little city packs a big punch even though it sits on just one square mile. Incorporated in 1896, Emeryville was named for Gold Rush icon Joseph Stickney Emery, who bought significant parcels of land there in 1884. Before that, the land was settled by indigenous people as well as by Spainards and Americans. In the early 1900s, the first Santa Fe passenger train came to Emeryville along with a pair of streetcar systems, the Key System and the East Bay Electric Lines, the latter of which was operated by Southern Pacific. Since those early days, Emeryville has expanded to meet modern-day demands. Today it is a hub for high-tech activity, a destination for shoppers and an area of increasing development. You can start your search for an apartment in Emeryville via our Apartment Guide Apartment Guide and get advice and answers at our Emeryville Local Talk forum LocalTalk. Read on to learn more about this burgeoning city.

Emeryville Apartment Rental Trends

Emeryville is a popular place and the rental market can be competitive. That said, there's a lot of great apartments out there – and if you look carefully, you can find some impressive deals. Check out our rental and census data tables as well as our other fact sheets for more info about affordability and options for your future new digs. We've got a comprehensive list of Emeryville rentals, so start your search for the perfect home by checking out some of the listings below.

Business-Friendly

While some nearby cities are relatively difficult to enter as a new business, Emeryville is known for its openness to enterprise. A wide variety of businesses, from high-tech firms to old-school retail shops, make their home here. Some of the most notable include Pixar Animation Studios, Kodak Gallery, Peets Coffee and Tea, Clif Bar and Electronic Arts. In addition, the Bay Street Emeryville shopping complex offers a million square feet of mostly upscale retail plus second-story apartments. The city also provides financial help to small businesses; its low-interest loan program proceeds can be used for facility improvements of many types.

One World Under One Roof

Hungry for Thai? What about Caribbean? Or do you want a good old-fashioned hamburger? You can get just about anything you want at the Emeryville Public Market, which offers more than 20 different food stalls cooking up a literal world of cuisine. Featured on the Cooking Channel's “United Taste of America” show, the Public Market is a popular destination not only at mealtimes but throughout the day, when shoppers of all stripes take a break from nearby stores and cinemas to dine the global way. The marketplace also offers a free shuttle to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train and is located across from the Amtrak station, making it a convenient stop for all types of commuters. Since there are apartments located within walking distance from the market, it's even possible to get there on foot.

High-Tech Heaven

Emeryville is a place where high-tech can be considered king. Home to a wide range of technological firms including nanotechnology, life sciences, biotech and biofuels, Emeryville boasts such companies as healthcare developer Novartis, pharmaceutical firm Bayer Corp., and renewable fuel firm Amyris Biotechnologies. In 2007, the city also received a $125 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute to lease space at EmeryStation East, a newly developed laboratory building. With its proximity to San Francisco as well as to the Silicon Valley, an hour's drive away, Emeryville draws high-tech workers from all corners of the country – and the globe. This makes the apartment market diverse and occasionally competitive.

Loft Living

Much of Emeryville's apartment stock consists of lofts. This is due at least in part to the fact that many Emeryville rentals have actually been converted from warehouses. This is a tribute to Emeryville's industrial history as well as evidence of the city's eclectic population, much of which prefers the somewhat-alternative lifestyle of a live-work space. Lofts are also a creative means of handling population density, as they take up less space than single-family homes and yet at the same time often provide more room to roam than typical apartments. And they're classic Emeryville style.