San Ramon Downtown to be unveiled to public in 2018

The new San Ramon downtown is to be built by the 2018 holiday season in Bishop Ranch, giving people a contemporary place to shop and entertain themselves. 

Key parts of the downtown include a movie theater, hotel, office space, housing, shops and restaurants.

The city of San Ramon decided to use Antonio Belvedere, designer at Renzo Piano Workshop Firm, a France based designing company, for the new downtown. He has designed notable buildings like  the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. His goal for the downtown area was to design a space that captures the suburban environment, and takes citizens away from urbanized cities of the Bay Area.

Although the center will be built on Bishop Ranch land, Sunset Development Company has taken over the designing. Bishop Ranch  will lease the retail and commercial space for the downtown.

Bishop Ranch currently owns hundreds of office spaces and office buildings throughout the Bay Area, and several of these buildings are located in San Ramon. Many large companies, such as Chevron, Bank of the West and 24 Hour Fitness, have leased office spaces from Bishop Ranch.

Of the entire 39 acres, 22 acres are owned by Sunset Development company, and the other 17 acres are owned by the City of San Ramon. 2.1 million square feet are divided into retail, housing, office space and restaurants. Most of the land will become housing, however a portion will be reserved for retail shops, specifically middle class stores. San Ramon expects to make a large profit from the downtown.

The downtown is funded by an unknown third-party. San Ramon residents will not have to pay for any of the construction fees. The exact cost of the downtown has not been disclosed by the City of San Ramon, but many speculate  that it was rather costly.

Many have waited a long time for this, and there are high expectations for the downtown. Since its inception, San Ramon has lacked a sense of community, so this downtown will provide people with a place to shop and have fun.