Shopping Center Business is the leading monthly business magazine for the retail real estate industry.
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BISHOP RANCH 60 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • August 2016 M ore than 30,000 employees work on the 585-acre Bishop Ranch property every day in the 10 million square feet of office space in San Ramon, California. Located along Interstate 680 between the Bay Area towns of Pleasanton and Walnut Creek, the project includes the corporate head- quarters of Chevron, and large offices for companies like Bank of the West and Rob- ert Half International. Now, the project's master developer, Sunset Development Company, is planning a 300,000-square- foot retail-anchored development de- signed by renowned architect Renzo Pia- no to serve office and residential tenants. Beginning in 1978, Bishop Ranch was developed as a place for large office users to have corporate campuses within a spe- cialized area. Sunset Development Com- pany, controlled by the Mehran family, has continually owned, operated and de- veloped Bishop Ranch since its inception. "It is a rare occurrence to have a sponsor that is a long term investor, who can really say that they are there for the benefit of the tenants," says Alexander Mehran, Jr., grandson of the project's founder, who today serves as president and chief oper- ating officer of Sunset Development. "We have had a lot of success getting compa- nies to locate to Bishop Ranch; there are over 600 companies there today." As Bishop Ranch has developed, so too has the area around it. Seeking to escape the city and recognizing that there were strong paying jobs and excellent schools, people began to relocate to San Ramon and other areas in Contra Costa County. "The only thing we have lacked for years is a quality downtown experience," says Mehran. After emigrating from Iran and gradu- ating from college in the United States, Masud Mehran, Alexander Mehran Jr.'s grandfather, became a prolific develop- er in California. Prior to Bishop Ranch, Sunset Development was best known for Sunset Town, a booming suburban enclave in Livermore, California, that ul- timately grew to more than 4,000 homes and apartments. With his son, Alexander Mehran Sr., Masud Mehran developed Bishop Ranch throughout the 1980s, '90s and 2000s. Recognizing the need for more ame- nities as companies began to seek more urban locations and live-work-play envi- ronments, Sunset Development targeted a plot of land it had reserved for future development for an entertainment and re- tail project in the late 2000s. Plans were put on hold when the Great Recession hit, as office and retail tenants pulled back ex- pansion. By 2013, demand was back — so much so that the company re-purchased and renovated a 100-acre parcel with a 2 million-square-foot office building, which it had sold to Pacific Bell back in the early 1980s. Designed by SOM and known as 2600 Bishop Ranch, it is designed to hold up to 8,000 workers. "Food is the biggest request we get from our office tenants and providing that amenity helps companies retain the best talent in the hotly competitive Bay Area employment market," says Mehran. "At the most basic level, City Center Bishop Ranch will serve a starving office com- munity and the sophisticated residential population in San Ramon and surround- ing communities. But the vision here has always been much greater — to create a 24/7 community with a retail destination that is an icon in the Bay Area and serves a regional audience." Sunset wanted to give residents a proj- ect that was reflective of the lifestyle of the area, and of the attractive office environ- Retail Addition The Bay Area's massive Bishop Ranch office park plans a new amenity for residents and tenants with the addition of 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurants and entertainment. Randall Shearin City Center Bishop Ranch will contain retail, restaurants and entertainment wrapped in a design by Renzo Piano.