Sunset Development Looks to Create Downtown for San Ramon

Sunset Development Looks to Create Downtown for San Ramon
Kari Hamanaka
Patience really is a virtue. Had East Bay area developer Sunset Development actually moved forward with its plans for a major retail project in San Ramon, Calif. before the Great Recession, it likely would have come online only to be hit by the effects of the downturn and then quickly lost relevance in today's rapidly changing retail landscape. The developer instead just a few weeks ago began moving forward with City Center Bishop Ranch, breaking ground on the 300,000-square-foot retail, dining and entertainment project aimed at serving residents and workers at its nearby Bishop Ranch office park — home to IBM, Ford Motor Co. and AT&T among other companies — in hopes of forging a new downtown for the city. The primary trade area draws from 14 zip codes, totaling 366,000 residents, with average household incomes of about $150,000. About 18,500 office workers are within walking distance to the project. The first tenant to be announced is an upscale movie theater, restaurant and coffee house The Lot, which is absorbing 45,000 square feet at City Center. Three additional leases have been signed since then with the businesses expected to be revealed later this year, along with a San Francisco-based food concept also set

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