In this edition of our semi-monthly Newswire, we highlight five Emeryville stories from the second half of July that you may have missed, including:
- Pixar Absorbs Another Round of Layoffs
- Former Clif Bar Campus Sold at “Big Discount”
- City Employees Picket Civic Center Amid Ongoing Labor Negotiations
- Former Housing Committee Member Opines on the Benefits of Falling Home Values
- Former Emeryville Campus Featured in BBC Documentary on Jared Leto Allegations
Pixar used Mrs. Incredible letterhead to tell the state they were axing 108 Bay Area jobs pic.twitter.com/2lpEts30FQ
— Matt Brown (@maattttbrown) July 23, 2026
Pixar to Lay Off 108 Employees
Emeryville’s largest private employer is once again reducing its workforce. Pixar Animation Studios has filed a WARN notice with the state announcing plans to lay off 108 employees from its Emeryville headquarters, with most of the cuts taking effect on Sept. 26. The reductions are concentrated in production and operations and come as part of a broader round of layoffs across parent company Disney.
The announcement comes despite the blockbuster success of Toy Story 5, which has surpassed $1 billion at the global box office. The layoffs follow Pixar’s 2024 workforce reduction that eliminated approximately 175 positions—about 14% of the studio’s staff at the time. The WARN filing also drew attention online for being issued on Pixar letterhead featuring the studio’s Mrs. Incredible character.
EmeryTech Campus Sold at “Big Discount”
The EmeryTech campus has changed hands again in one of the East Bay’s more notable commercial real estate transactions this year. San Francisco-based Cannae Partners purchased the 234,000-square-foot property on Hollis and 65th for $55.5 million after being listed back in February.
The sum is less than half of what Blackstone paid for the property in 2019. The sale underscores the continuing reset of the Bay Area office market, where values have fallen sharply since the pandemic.
The property served as Clif Bar’s headquarters for 15 years before the company’s post-acquisition downsizing. More recently, Premier Nutrition signed a 10-year lease for nearly 119,000 square feet at the campus, helping stabilize occupancy.
Emeryville’s approximately 4 million-square-foot office market hit 27.7% vacancy in the second quarter of this year according to data from CBRE.
City Employees Picket Civic Center Amid Ongoing Labor Talks
Some City of Emeryville employees have been publicly voicing frustration as contract negotiations with the city continue. Workers have picketed outside the Civic Center in recent weeks, arguing the city’s proposed cost-of-living adjustment is inadequate. At the July 21 City Council meeting, employees demonstrated with drums and signs while encouraging passing motorists to honk in support.
In a social media post accompanying a video of the demonstration, Community Development Coordinator Amber Evans criticized the city’s compensation priorities, writing, “Top executives are getting 5% in Emeryville, but you know what the workers are getting? Not nearly the cost of living.” Evans urged residents to contact the City Council “to let them know that they should be supporting workers, not the city execs.”
The labor negotiations come as the city grapples with a structural budget deficit and has placed a tax measure on the November ballot to generate additional revenue.
Former Housing Committee Member Opines the Benefits of Falling Home Values
Former Emeryville Housing Committee member Ned Resnikoff has penned a piece that may ruffle some feathers in the local community.
In an essay published on his personal blog titled “Falling Home Prices Are a Measure of Success, Not Failure,” Resnikoff argues that Emeryville’s declining home values are evidence of the city’s success in permitting housing construction over the past several decades, rather than a sign of economic weakness. He contends that increased housing supply—not primarily high HOA dues or other condo-specific factors—is the broader driver behind the city’s softening home prices.
While Emeryville has long encouraged residential development, much of its recent housing production has come from two large apartment projects approved years ago, while several more recent proposals have stalled or been withdrawn. The city also has not added a significant number of for-sale condominium units in more than a decade, making the causes of declining home values a subject of ongoing debate.
Resnikoff is an urban policy consultant and fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and is preparing to publish his book, Build or Die: How America Is Suffocating Its Cities and What to Do About It.
Former Emeryville Campus Featured in BBC Documentary on Jared Leto Allegations
A new BBC documentary, Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret, examines allegations that actor and musician Jared Leto engaged in sexual misconduct spanning more than two decades.
Emeryville makes a brief appearance through footage filmed in 2013 during an event at Ex’pression College, where Leto was promoting his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars. In the recording, Leto invites a young woman on stage before quoting a line made famous by Matthew McConaughey’s character in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused: “That’s what I like about high school girls. I keep getting older, they stay the same age.” He then adds McConaughey’s signature “Alright, alright, alright.”
Ex’pression College operated at Shellmound Street and 66th Street from 1998 until its closure in 2023.
The documentary includes allegations from at least 10 women accusing Leto of sexual misconduct, some dating back years. Leto has denied the allegations, calling them “absolutely and categorically false.”
