Retail Area ‘Shops at Tanforan’ Changing Purpose to Office Area

Swapping a legacy retail space for a proposed office complex, the Bay Area’s The Shops at Tanforan, after 51 years, will be no more.

Pasadena-based Alexandria Real Estate plans to develop 1 million square feet of office space, while also providing at least 1,000 homes on the site, which is located near the San Bruno BART station on El Camino Real. 

Alexandria bought the property in three separate transactions totaling $328 million, the Mercury News reported, with the most recent installment a $95.2 million payment to complete the purchase.

With physical retail space taking a pandemic-related hit, a lack of foot traffic from stay-at-home workers spelled out the need for Tanforan a 44-acre plot, to evolve. 

Hence, the San Bruno City Council adopted a Reimagining Tanforan Land Use Fact Sheet in July 2021 to encourage investors to assess the shopping center’s potential for mixed-use development.