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The Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com are embarking on a cover story series in 2025 examining the downtowns throughout the Tri-Valley. Our project continues this week with reporter Jude Strzemp’s profile on the state of Blackhawk Plaza.
Blackhawk Plaza has been the subject of many community complaints, including a lack of tenants, yet the shopping center continues to draw patrons to its museum, tenant-operated events and avian wildlife. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Blackhawk Plaza feels empty to many visitors, given its approximately 26% vacancy rate. 
A pocket of people Friday evening, dine and drink at a plaza restaurant called Blue Sakana. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
The Blackhawk Museum attracts thousands of patrons to the plaza every month. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Julia O’Reilly, president of Alamo Danville Artists’ Society, readies for an art show at the plaza in May. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
On a Friday evening, restaurants draw visitors to the scenic shopping center. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Geese wander the plaza’s walkways on a spring morning. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Across the street from the plaza, cars pack the shopping center on a Thursday afternoon. (Photo by Jude Strzemp)
At an approximately 250,000-square-foot open-air retail center in unincorporated San Ramon Valley, beauty collides with hollowness.
Under ghost marquees, the hallways of Blackhawk Plaza are nearly void of visitors on a Friday evening this month.
Yet walking alongside a water feature between plaza buildings, with geese and mallard as company, patrons can be seen at select restaurants and the playground or striding toward the plaza’s museum for a black tie event.
Despite an approximately 26% vacancy rate, with common resident requests for more tenants, the hub continues to attract visitors to the Blackhawk Museum, lessee-run events and even wildlife.
Looking toward the future, many commercial renters say they are optimistic about the plaza, given new property management and the expected opening of Apple Cinemas this year.
“We remember it so much more vibrant than it is right now,” plaza neighbor Jolene Ronda said about her and her husband’s experience. “It is such a great place for families in the area and we wonder why people and businesses don’t want to stay there.”
Opened to the public in 1989 in unincorporated Danville just outside the gated community of Blackhawk, the plaza currently hosts businesses such as Draeger’s Market, Dogtopia, spas, gyms, an optometry office and restaurants including Fat Maddie’s, Blue Sakana and Brown Butter.
Built by Ken Behring’s company and sold about 30 years ago, there have been a series of plaza owners since then, according to David Behring, son of the late Blackhawk developer.
Since 2020 the ownership has included Ramanujan Group LLC, Iron Condor Investments LLC, Blackhawk CenterCal LLC and most recently Ramanujan Group MOM LLC, according to the Contra Costa County Assessor’s Office.
“Looking forward, we’re confident that we can continue to build a strong co-tenant mix within the center that will improve upon the high standards that the people of Danville have come to expect from Blackhawk Plaza,” current ownership said in a statement for this story.
‘Always a struggle’
While Blackhawk features no explicit downtown, the plaza has been marketed as a community gathering place for dining, shopping, special events and entertainment by the commercial real estate and property investment firm JLL.
Although the area’s median household income is fairly high, “It’s always a struggle to keep businesses there,” Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen said in a recent interview. “When you look at the demographics, you’d think it would work.”
Though every five years there is some noticeable turnover, Andersen estimated. Previously, the plaza hosted anchoring tenants including Saks Fifth Avenue, Gottschalks, Restoration Hardware and Anthropologie.
Other marked closures include Prickly Pear Cantina restaurant in 2020 and The Grille at Blackhawk, which shuttered unexpectedly this January.
The Blackhawk Homeowners Association declined to comment on the state of the plaza.
Regional shopping hubs typically rely on freeway traffic, Andersen explained. But at approximately 4.5 miles away from Interstate 680, it’s challenging to keep a large retail center like Blackhawk Plaza going.
There is also competition in Pleasanton and Walnut Creek, Andersen said. Plus retail at-large has been impacted by the boom of online shopping.
Additionally, Andersen expects that renters have been affected by lease changes due to property tax reassessments conducted for ownership turnover.
Draeger’s, with a 30-year lease, has not been impacted by changes in ownership, according to assistant store director Phillip Obee.
“It nevertheless continues to draw people there,” Andersen added. “It’s still a beautiful place in our community.”
Exhibits, events, eating … and even birds
Every weekend the Blackhawk Museum brings in approximately 1,000 people when the site is open to the public, according to David Behring. They visit for the museum’s five exhibits including the Automobile Gallery, Spirit of the Old West, Art of Africa, Into China and World of Nature, according to Matt Hansen the museum’s director of marketing.
The museum is also known as the site of school tours, car shows and speaker series as well as private events and galas.
“We’ve always served as a central cultural anchor,” Hansen said of the museum’s role at the plaza. “We attract visitors from across the Bay Area and beyond, and our presence helps bring energy, education and community engagement to the entire plaza.”
Eateries like Fat Maddie’s, Blue Sakana and Brown Butter also bring visitors to the plaza, apparent from the outdoor tables partially filled on a Friday evening in mid-May.
The community also gathers at the plaza for events hosted by tenants, including a card and annual art show.
The event on May 10, called the 680 Card Show, was a time for collective growth, said Ajay Sohal, owner of the plaza’s Bamville Sports and Collectibles.
“We’re not just throwing these shows for us. We’re throwing these shows so people can come back here, maybe have a nostalgic moment of what the plaza used to be like and how it was thriving,” Sohal explained.
Another recent event was the 48th annual Primavera art show, hosted by the Blackhawk Gallery, which is operated by the Alamo Danville Artists’ Society.
Others visit for the birds.
For Sidra Yaseen, who moved to the surrounding neighborhood this year, walking the plaza and feeding the mallards and geese with her children has become an evening routine.
“The kids love feeding the birds,” Yaseen said. “We’re just making memories with the kids”.
Community complaints
Over the years, Blackhawk Plaza has introduced more service-oriented businesses, Andersen noted.
Veronica Pugh, who was at the plaza’s park with her daughter midweek, said the two visited to see the ducks and grab some coffee, sans shopping.
“I used to come here more when the Anthropologie was here, there was more retail,” Pugh said. Following its closure and the shuttering of other retail, she no longer felt the need to visit the plaza.
“The Starbucks is why a lot of people I know come here right now,” Pugh quipped.
Instead of shopping at the Blackhawk Plaza, she and her family visit City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon.
“I feel like that’s a good example of a thriving place. They have a bunch of well-known food places, a lot of options and a ton of retail,” Pugh said.
Blackhawk resident and instructor at the plaza’s CorePower Yoga, Dana Patterson said she frequents City Center too. Another hotspot for her and her husband is downtown Danville, the site of their favorite restaurant.
“For the last 15 years, I’ve often said it would behoove them to draw family-type traffic into the building,” Patterson said.
Danville resident Roxanne Blair also sees potential in the center, maybe as a popular evening destination. But as of now, she said it lacks niche retail and a sufficient variety of eateries.
“Right now, the plaza is like a ghost town,” Blair added. “I hope that it can become a hub again for our community.”
In addition to tenant occupancy, the town of Danville receives a “fair amount of misdirected complaints” about water quality of the plaza’s pond and theater management, town spokesperson Jenn Starnes said.
As for the now-resolved water issue, there was a problem with the pumps, Andersen said.
“There was never a public safety issue with the pond. It just didn’t look very good,” she added.
Entering a new era?
Since coming under new management within the last year, tenants said they have noticed improvements at the plaza.
“Anytime we had problems in the past with physical things within the building, it would be hard to get anyone’s attention to help,” Patterson explained. “It’s been a breath of fresh air, to see improvements being made to the aesthetics of the building, and the cleaning, landscaping and the overall physical attention they’re giving to the businesses in general.”
Obee and Sohal agreed that the plaza has been on the upswing.
“I see everything here starting to get better,” Sohal said. “This is gonna be the hotspot it used to be.”
Recent openings at the plaza include Combat Sports Academy gym last year and Revino Head Spa this year.
Also this year, Apple Cinemas is set to soon take over the former Century Blackhawk Plaza theater that closed in December 2022 after more than 30 years of operations. The new cinema’s opening was previously set for sometime last year but the new operators didn’t hit that mark.
“We’re certain that Apple Cinema will be a major success,” ownership said in a statement.
Andersen expected that the new theater may bring more people to the center, a sentiment shared by Sohal.
As for the impact on businesses, Revino Head Spa owner Amy Nguyen said increased foot-traffic would not necessarily attract more walk-in clients to the spa.
“You have to build your own clients,” Nguyen said, which is about referrals, reviews and name recognition.
In the future, Ramanujan said it intends to bring in more tenants.
“Our commitment is to retain as many elements of the center that people have come to know and love, while adding new businesses which we hope will become new favorites”, Ramanujan said in a statement.
While rumors have circulated that the plaza is eyed for redevelopment into housing, Andersen said the county has not received any applications for its redevelopment.
Meanwhile, plaza officials said that ownership does not plan to bolster the plaza’s retail options. Instead, ownership has communicated its interest in attracting more restaurants and service-related businesses to the plaza.
While in favor of new tenants, restaurants and the theater’s opening, “We can’t depend on it”, David Behring said. “We just worry about our building and our attendance and what we can do for the community.”
