A Toast To The Newest Agent At Berkeley Hills Realty: Janesta Downey

Since earning her real estate license in 2004, Janesta Downey has demonstrated a knack for taking on challenges and creating positive results. Can she find the perfect home for a group of nuns in West Oakland? Yes, she can! In fact, she did. As a result of the friendships formed during that transaction she became fundraiser, board member, and general cheerleader for St. Martin de Porres School in Oakland. “You’ll hear a lot about this school from me,” she warns, “I believe education is the key to overcoming so many social challenges.”

Janesta has a solid history of turning her passions into her daily routine. Her love of meeting the needs of her clients created 20 successful years in computer industry corporate sales. Her love of wine-tasting and California helped her make the move from the East coast to the East Bay-- “The best place in the world!”-- after she earned her B.S. in Business Management from Rivier College and B.S. in Social Sciences from University of New Hampshire. She recently teamed up with former co-workers to shape www.brixchicks.com, a blog for exploring and reviewing wines. You’ll often find her whipping up a meal for friends and, occasionally, for her son and daughter. “They both work in the Bay Area,” she declares with a hint of triumph. You can be sure the Greek chicken she’s preparing for them tonight will be accompanied with the perfect wine.

The pairing of an agent with the right brokerage is essential to success. What draws Janesta to Berkeley Hills Realty? “It is such a nurturing group with a reputation for ethical business practices. When you tell the truth your life is so much simpler. I seek out people who share the same commitment to trustworthiness and kindness.”

For her clients, Janesta’s consulting and listening skills make the difference: “I believe people tell you exactly what they need. If you are talking too much you miss it.” Janesta is strong enough to support clients during periods of high emotion while being analytical and thorough about the details. These skills coupled with support from a welcoming brokerage make Janesta Downey and Berkeley Hills Realty the perfect pairing for your real estate needs.

Janesta Downey  

DRE # 01402391

janesta@berkhills.com

Office: 510.524.9888 x57

Vm: 510.524.1700 x57

Cell: 510.301.5323

About The East Bay Specialists

Berkeley Hills Realty has long been recognized as one of the market leaders in East Bay real estate. Founded as Berkeley Realty, the firm has more than fifty years of experience with residential properties in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, Piedmont, El Cerrito, and Emeryville. We are proud of our excellent reputation throughout the East Bay community and among our colleagues in real estate. At Berkeley Hills Realty, we strive to promote that reputation through specialized service and local expertise. With small-town ethics and a big world view, we combine digital push with personal pull to advance in the market without losing sight of the individual.

Berkeley Hills Realty is locally owned by two longtime agents. We are committed to nurturing a successful partnership with our clients, our associates, our staff members, and our real estate colleagues throughout the East Bay. Our associates are a select group of less than twenty-five agents. Our ongoing mission is to ensure the client’s best interests are of the utmost importance. That mission includes a dedicated effort to place the best and most polished tools available into the hands of our associates. With highly competitive commission earnings and exceptional support services, we take great care of our agents so that they can take great care of their clients.

For more information, call 510-524-9888, or email broker@berkhills.com.

1714 Solano Ave., Berkeley CA 94708  ·  510.524.9888  · www.berkhills.com

Berkeley Hills Agents Don't Spill the Beans

"If the end is right it justifies the beans!" ~Stephen Sondheim

Did you know? Every time you buy or sell a house with a Realtor from Berkeley Hills Realty, part of the proceeds from your transaction goes to a local charity. That donation is made wisely, too. 

For example, at Alameda County Community Food Bank, every dollar donated is worth five spending dollars to buy food for hungry families. Here’s agent and broker associate Nancy Mueller taking a break from packing beans with other volunteers to present Charles Beyer, Volunteer Manager at the Alameda County Community Food Bank, with a check from Berkeley Hills Realty agents and clients. 

Nancy volunteers monthly with the food bank and she invites you to come along! You can contact Nancy at 510.524.9888 ext. 20 or email her at nancy@berkhills.com . You can also contact the Alameda County Community Food Bank at (510) 635-3663 to volunteer or donate.

We are Rolling up Our Sleeves at Peralta Park

Berkeley Hills Realty has adopted Solano-Peralta Park. In support of our local community, Berkeley Hills has voluntarily taken on the role as Peralta Park stewards. Our responsibility includes a weekly cleanup. We are at the park every Wednesday around noon, sweeping, pruning and watering. If you are in the neighborhood (Solano Avenue @ Peralta) and want to stop by, we would love to see you.

Because of recent cuts in the city's budget, the staff caring for our local parks have been stretched thin. As a result, the city was very supportive and thankful of our efforts and even donated tools and brooms. The city also put as in touch with some key individuals who have been very responsive to our questions and have provided us with guidance along the way.

If you would like to find out how you can volunteer to care for a park near you, contact your local Park and Recreation department:

City of Berkeley
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704
TEL: (510) 981-6700, TDD: (510) 981-6903, FAX: (510) 981-6710
Office Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Email: parks@ci.berkeley.ca.us

City of Oakland:
250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Suite 3330
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 238-PARK

City of Albany:
Recreation & Community Services
1249 Marin Avenue
Albany, California 94706
Telephone: (510) 524-9283

City of El Cerrito:
7007 Moeser Lane El Cerrito, CA 94530-2392
General Line: (510) 559-7000
General Fax: (510) 528-9413

Kensington
Police Protection and Community Services District
(510) 526-4141
http://www.kensingtoncalifornia.org/parks-and-recreation

The Rehabilitation and Restoration of the Piedmont Way Project

Today the Berkeley Association of Realtors hosted a Membership Luncheon on The Rehabilitation and Restoration of the Piedmont Way Project. A grass roots organization, the Friends of Piedmont Way, has formed a partnership with the City of Berkeley and the University of California at Berkeley to rehabilitate and preserve one of Fredrick Law Olmsted's signature curvilinear parkways. Located along Piedmont Avenue, the parkway runs through the neighborhood originally know as the Berkeley Property Tract. The ambitious four part restoration marks a trend toward embracing landscape architecture for its important historical significance in conjunction with the existing movement to preserve land marked buildings.

The Piedmont Way Project was Fredrick Law Olmsted's first residential commission drafted in 1865. Olmsted is one of our country's first famous landscape architects, who's numerous accomplishments include New York City's Central Park and the Capitol Grounds in Washington D.C.

Olmsted envisioned a roadway sheltered from the sun and wind by "an over arching bowery of foliage."

Over time, the street scape has deviated from Olmsted’s original vision as a result of development, the addition of overhead power lines, road repairs and maintenance, and the removal of original flora.

Through a 100% volunteer effort, Friends of Piedmont Way has come a long way toward getting the project off the ground. This fledgling needs your help to fly. Donations and volunteers are needed to see the project to its fruition. Go to www.piedmontway.org for more information on how you can help recreate a historic greenbelt.

Local Flavor: A Bay Area Lifestyle Report

On KQED this afternoon, there was an interesting conversation on food (near and dear to my heart and stomach.) While driving, I caught a snippet of a conversation with Russ Parsons, author of How to Pick a Peach. The interview discussed the merits of seasonal eating. Specifically, how eating seasonally encourages a quarterly menu change (keeping your taste buds from being bored) and creates a cultural epiphany inspired by the miraculously great taste of produce, only to be experienced when it's eaten at its seasonal prime. I was touched almost palatably, in a way that had me instantly salivate and appreciate. First, I can't wait to buy a ripe peach. Secondly, I humbly thank our own local celebrity, Chef Alice Waters, who is largely responsible for the richness and availability of local produce here in Northern California. I can't do her justice so I feel compelled to quote Wikipedia here:

Alice Louise Waters (born 28 April 1944 in Chatham, New Jersey), one of the best-known and most influential American chefs since the 1970s, is credited with single-handedly creating a culinary revolution in America. She is the founder and co-owner of Chez Panisse, the original "California Cuisine" restaurant in Berkeley,
California, as well as the informal Cafe Fanny in West Berkeley. A champion of locally-grown and fresh ingredients, she has been credited with creating and developing California cuisine and has written or co-written several books on the subject, including the influential Chez Panisse Cooking (written with then-chef Paul Bertolli). She has also promoted organic and small farm products heavily in her restaurants, in her books, and in her Edible Schoolyard program in the public schools. Her ideas for "edible education" have been introduced into the entire Berkeley school system, and with the current crisis in childhood obesity, have attracted the attention of the national media.

Waters advocates eating locally produced foods that are in season, because she believes that the international shipment of mass-produced food is both harmful to the environment and produces an inferior product for the consumer.

It is hard to talk about seasonal produce, without shamelessly promoting our local Farmer's Markets. Our Farmer's Markets travel around the East Bay with a scheduled regularity, making it is possible to bring the freshest possible local produce to your dinner table for each night's dinner. (Last night I personally enjoyed to most spectacular mushroom ceviche; with fresh oyster mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, lime and a bit jalapeno pepper.)