Big-Box Retail Continues To Transition to Housing, Laboratory Development

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, one of the nation’s largest laboratory developers, just announced it has purchased the JC Penny property at the Tanforan Mall in San Bruno, California. When the existing leases expire it plans to raze the building and build 700,000 square feet of life science space.  Conversion and re-use of big-box has been going on well before the pandemic. Sears, JC Penny’s and other large retailers have been shutting down stores for a number of years, In some cases the huge demand for last-mile distribution made it easy to  convert to mini-distribution, especially if the stores were located in close proximity to dense population centers. Some indoor shopping centers have been converted to creative office spaces,  and others to medical facilities.  A number have been demolished to make way for major residential development, was will be the case with Richmond, California’s Hilltop Mall. Obsolescence to modern functionality…