After years of decline and neglect, ALCOSTA MALL was demolished in the mid-1990s. Its few remaining stores had relocated into the new COUNTRY CLUB VILLAGE, located across the parkway. Ralphs, a charter tenant, was replaced by a La Asian specialty grocer in August 2007. This closed in February 2010 and was followed by a WalMart Neighborhood Market, in September 2012.
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ALCOSTA MALL
Alcosta Boulevard and Village Parkway
Contra Costa County (San Ramon), California
The story of this East Bay mini-mall begins in the mid-1960s. A freestanding (53,000 square foot) Safeway supermarket and Super S variety store & pharmacy were built on an 11-acre site. This parcel was located 27 miles east of San Francisco's Union Square, in an unincorporated section of Contra Costa County known as San Ramon Village.
The Safeway stores were officially dedicated on January 19, 1966. A small open-air mall, tentatively known as SAN RAMON TOWN CENTER, was to be added to the south side of the Super S structure. By the time the first stage of this complex was completed, its name had been changed to ALCOSTA MALL. This moniker was an amalgamation of Alameda County and Contra Costa County (the mall site abutted the county line).
Sears Catalog & Appliance became one of the first operational mall stores on October 23, 1968. Sears' dedication was followed by one for a (20,000 square foot) TG&Y 5 & 10, which held its grand opening on December 5, 1968.
Over the years, inline ALCOSTA MALL stores and services would include South Bay TV, Anderson Realty, Joyann's Plastercraft & Gifts, Orange Julius, Casa Bella Donna beauty salon, a Swensen's Ice Cream shop and Bavarian Village Hof Brau restaurant. On the periphery of the mall were Bank Of America, United California Bank and Fotomat.
San Ramon Village was officially incorporated as the City of San Ramon on July 1, 1983. TG&Y was converted to a McCrory variety store in 1986.
Meanwhile, the mall had been expanded, with a store block added to its southeast corner, in 1980. However, the completion of the superregional STONERIDGE MALL {2 miles south, in Pleasanton} contributed to the decline of ALCOSTA MALL, as did the shuttering of an adjacent Eastman Kodak distribution center, in November 1984. To add insult to injury, the DIABLO PLAZA power center {3.9 miles northwest, in San Ramon} opened in 1985.
By the late 1980s, ALCOSTA MALL was considered a blighted and aging property. Safeway pulled up stakes in 1989. The abandoned Safeway structures were soon knocked down, with the remainder of the moribund mall being demolished in 1995. The site was redeveloped as the East Hampton housing plat.
Sources:
The Oakland Tribune
The San Francisco Examiner
The Contra Costa Times
Information from Scott Parsons / "Big Mall Rat"
http://www.ci.san-ramon.ca.us / "History of San Ramon"
https://www.dublin.ca.gov
https://www.upi.com
https://www.regencycenters.com
Contra Costa County, California tax assessor website
www.colliers.com / Colliers International Investor Services
