Will Life Sciences Revitalize San Bruno Mall?

Alexandria Real Estate Equities has revealed how it wants to turn a 54-year-old indoor mall in San Bruno into a life sciences research village with 1,000 homes.

The Pasadena-based life sciences developer unveiled plans to redevelop the 44-acre Shops at Tanforan mall at 1122 El Camino Real, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The real estate investment trust plans to raze the nearly 970,000-square-foot mall and replace it with 1.8 million square feet of tech and life sciences research offices and 1,000 homes.

If approved, the project could turn the area into a high-density, transit hub — with three life sciences buildings built within a retail village of shops and restaurants, a revamped movie theater, a public market, a 63,000-square-foot Target department store, homes and open space.

A Tanforan Central Market, with soaring walls of glass, sits under a shed roof next to a verdant glade full of residents and visitors, according to a rendering.

Of its 1,000 homes, 200 would be set aside as affordable. Alexandria is working with Strada Investment Group, a San Francisco-based developer, which has entered talks with two affordable housing developers. Strada expects to select a partner this year.

In early 2022, Alexandria bought the mall for $328 million, or $338 per square foot, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Its days as a traditional mall may be numbered.

The redevelopment project, now under environmental review, could be approved by November, with mall demolition to follow. Alexandria is still sketching out its retail plans.

What was once known as the Tanforan Park Shopping Center opened in 1971 with two anchor stores, replacing a historic race track used as an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II.

In January, anchor JCPenney announced it would close its 275,400-square-foot anchor store, accelerating its redevelopment.

San Bruno sees Tanforan’s redevelopment as a way to bring jobs and housing to a key corridor. The city must plan for 3,100 new homes by 2031.

The mall’s location next to the San Bruno BART station makes it an ideal site for workforce housing for teachers and other workers. Many lower-income workers in the county struggle to afford housing, forcing them into long commutes, according to city officials.

The life sciences component may be more of a gamble. The life science sector is coming out of a four-year slump, with only three properties trading hands nationwide in the first nine months of last year.

In the quarter ending in June, the Bay Area’s once-booming 41.5 million-square-foot life sciences market was 24.6 percent vacant, according to CBRE.

— Dana Bartholomew