Rockridge is changing at three different speeds this fall. Restaurants on College Avenue can turn over in a single afternoon. The October parades run on a calendar measured in decades. The biggest physical change proposed for the neighborhood in years, at the Trader Joe's corner by BART, has no published schedule at all. Each speed explains something about the other two.
A Friday in July That Changed Two Addresses
Friday, July 31 was the last day for Pucquio at 5337 College Ave. The Peruvian restaurant announced its closing on Instagram. In its notice, Oaklandside's Nosh recalled that San Francisco Chronicle critic Cesar Hernandez had once called it "this electrifying Peruvian restaurant" and possibly "the most underrated spot in Oakland's Rockridge."
That same Friday, about six blocks up the avenue, Enssaro Ethiopian Restaurant opened at 5897 College Ave. Enssaro is new to Rockridge but not to Oakland. It spent roughly two decades on Grand Avenue near Lake Merritt before the move. A press release said it is "still family-owned and operated by the same mother, daughter, and son team." The new dining room was designed by Kalu Gebreyohannes-Royster of Liyu Designs, who also designed Meski in San Francisco and Oakland's Lucy Blue.
In September, Chez Maeju soft-opened at 6200 Claremont Ave., where Claremont meets College, in the former Oken and Momo Ramen space. The Korean restaurant is built around jang, the fermented soybean sauces that include doenjang, ganjang and gochujang. The full menu online lists appetizers, grilled meat and fish, rice dishes, noodles, stews and desserts. The restaurant's own post says the menu will be smaller during the soft opening, and it is taking walk-ins for dinner.
Earlier in the year, Ike's Love and Sandwiches closed at 6310 College Ave., with Nosh recording April 16 as the closing date.
None of this is unusual for a busy restaurant street. It does set the baseline. On College Avenue, a closing and an opening can land on the same day, and a long-running Oakland restaurant can change neighborhoods with a press release and a set opening date. Storefront change here happens one lease at a time, quickly, and you can see it from the sidewalk.
The Two October Dates That Barely Move
The street's other speed shows up on the calendar. Two events this month are each older than most of the restaurants on the avenue.
- The Great Crucolo Parade, Saturday, Oct. 17, noon to 3 p.m. This is Rockridge Market Hall's 11th annual parade, held outside the Market Hall. Cheesemongers in Italian dress roll a cart carrying a huge wheel of Crucolo down Shafter Avenue to live accordion music and dancing. Crucolo is a creamy cow's milk cheese from Italy's Trentino-Alto Adige region. The parade starts promptly at noon and ends with a ceremonial cutting and samples. Market Hall Foods says it is one of two shops in the United States that sells Crucolo. It sold half the wheel at last year's event and expects to sell the whole wheel in one day this year.
- The Rockridge Halloween Parade, Sunday, Oct. 25, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Rockridge District Association's 34th annual parade is free. It includes trick-or-treating at more than 40 businesses along College Avenue from Broadway to Alcatraz, costume contests for kids and dogs, and Halloween activities at shops along the route. The association says trick-or-treat locations will be announced.
Further out, the association's calendar lists a photo-embroidery workshop at Bella Vita, 5511 College Ave., on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
A parade can reach its 34th year on a street where restaurants turn over every season because it doesn't rely on any single business. The Halloween route counts on more than 40 participating storefronts, whichever ones happen to be open that October. The Crucolo parade is tied to one long-standing market and one imported wheel of cheese. These events last because they are built on the street as a whole.
The Corner With No Published Timeline
The third speed belongs to 5727 College Ave., the Albertsons-owned lot where Trader Joe's operates near Rockridge BART. Albertsons, Safeway's parent company, owns the property but does not run the Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's official location page still lists the store at 5727 College Ave., with hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 4, 2026.
In April, Align Real Estate filed a preliminary proposal to replace the store with senior housing. Oakland North reported that proposal as 415 units in two towers of 31 and 25 floors, the taller reaching 352 feet, in an area where the local height limit is 95 feet. On August 20, SF YIMBY reported that Align had submitted the formal application with a revised design:
- Homes: down from 415 to 372, with 340 independent living units, 12 assisted living units and 20 memory care units
- Height: towers of 23 and 26 floors, with rooftops at 276 and 306 feet, down from 31 floors and 352 feet
- Grocery: space for an approximately 13,000-square-foot grocery facing BART, with no tenant confirmed
- Retail: 18,800 square feet at ground level, including storefronts along College Avenue
- Parking: 263 car spaces and 60 bicycle spaces
Even the shorter version would rise to more than three times the 95-foot local limit. The application relies on Assembly Bill 130, Senate Bill 330 and the State Density Bonus Law to streamline approval. SF YIMBY reported that this is the sixth proposal from Align and Albertsons to replace a grocery store, and the first that does not include a Safeway. It also noted that a Safeway already operates a few blocks away at College and Claremont avenues. The estimated cost and construction timeline have not been released.
The neighborhood has already weighed in. In July, about 100 people attended a town hall with Councilmember Zac Unger and city staff at St. Augustine Catholic Church, and nearly all of them opposed the plan. Oakland North reported that their concerns included neighborhood character, traffic near the site, and losing the grocery store. Unger said he had urged the developers to put Trader Joe's back on the ground floor, but that the City Council could not stop the project under current state law. He described those laws this way:
"And quite frankly, a big part of those state laws has been to take rooms like this out of the picture. And to take elected officials like me out of the picture."
Align has said it is developing the project with a Bay Area nonprofit senior living organization that has more than 65 years of experience serving older adults. It has not named the organization. The August filing is the latest public update we could find. It is one step in a process, and the outcome is still open.
Where the Three Speeds Meet on Oct. 25
Unlike a restaurant change, this one can't happen overnight, and unlike a parade, it can't be counted on to come back the same way next year. A restaurant swap shows up when the doors open. A parade shows up on the calendar. The 5727 College proposal moves through filings and state statutes, with no public date for the next step, and the revised design has already pulled back from the first version on height and unit count while adding grocery and street-level retail space.
On Sunday, Oct. 25, the Halloween trick-or-treat route runs along College Avenue from Broadway to Alcatraz. That stretch includes the 34th annual parade itself, Enssaro in its first fall on the avenue, Chez Maeju a few weeks after its September soft opening, the former Pucquio storefront at 5337, and the corner at 5727 College, where Trader Joe's still posts its regular hours and a tower proposal waits for its next public step.
If you own near College Avenue and want to understand what a proposal like 5727 College could mean for your own plans, Bay Homes Collective is glad to go through it with you, using what has actually been filed rather than speculation. Start the Conversation whenever the timing feels right.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.