East Bay guide · Tier A · Rank #22 of 87
House hacking in Martinez (Downtown / Pacheco / Vine Hill).
Martinez Waterfront and Marina Redevelopment (about $500M across 67.3 acres; ENA approved Dec 2025), a delivered Amtrak upgrade, and county-seat employment: county government, CCRMC, the VA, and the rebuilt PBF refinery are all in-ZIP.
Status check: Re-verified 2026-07-15: the waterfront plan is still progressing procedurally (ENA approved Dec 2025, BCDC preliminary review Mar 2026), but a June 2026 county civil grand jury report told Martinez to develop another funding plan. That is a funding-adequacy flag rather than a delay; tier held at A.
What's actually happening in 94553
- ENA approved
Martinez Waterfront and Marina Redevelopment: about $500M across 67.3 acres, three hotels plus an amphitheater and ferry; ENA approved Dec 2025. BCDC staff report
- Delivered
Amtrak upgrade ($8.5M) delivered 2024: 15 weekday Capitol Corridor round trips. Capitol Corridor
- Under construction
I-680/SR-4 interchange Phase 3: $58M TCEP plus ~$160M, under construction to 2028. CCTA
- Existing anchors
County-seat anchors in-ZIP: county government, CCRMC, the VA, and the rebuilt PBF refinery. Contra Costa County
The numbers
- Median price
- Metro mid-band (no city median printed this run)
- Market rent
- 2bd $2,300 / 3bd $2,800 whole-home (underwriting band)
- Property tax (Contra Costa County)
- ~1.32% effective (Martinez)
- Per-bed rent band
- $900–1,200/mo per bed
- ADU rent band
- $1,900–2,400/mo
- Whole-home rent band
- 2bd $2,300 / 3bd $2,800 whole-home
- Underwriting vacancy
- 5% underwriting vacancy
- Appreciation scenarios
- 1.5 / 3.0 / 4.0 %/yr (conservative / base / upside)
County and healthcare tenants can live-work here. Appreciation basis: Waterfront optionality plus county-seat anchors; varied stock at mid capex. Rent bands are city-level medians; confirm the specific parcel before trusting any of them. Run your own scenario in the calculator.
Buildings we underwrote in 94553
3 buildings in 94553 carry a record. 0 beat renting and index funds; the rest did not. Every row links to its own page, with the numbers it was scored on.
| Property | At our defaults | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2344 Scenic Ave 2 units · $577,000 | −$148,102 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 141-143 Gilbert Ct 2 units · $869,000 | −$433,766 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 2220 S Crest Ave 2 units · $849,900 | −$482,740 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
The full board shows every region's current week; this table is every record we hold for 94553, newest basis first.
The house-hack angle
Live-work house-hack for county, CCRMC, and VA staff; room rentals near downtown and the Amtrak stop with its 15 weekday round trips.
What breaks it
- A June 2026 county civil grand jury flagged waterfront funding adequacy
- The waterfront deal is an ENA so far: designation ahead of capital
- Refinery adjacency (PBF)