DANVILLE — An East Bay retail and restaurant plaza has gotten a hefty boost with big leases that will bring the shopping mall a movie theater, a martial arts academy and a wellness center as new tenants.
Blackhawk Plaza, a Danville mall that has struggled with brutal vacancies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, has landed new tenants that will fill up more than 53,000 square feet of space in the complex.
These are the new tenants at Blackhawk Plaza:
— Apple Cinemas is leasing 26,200 square feet, a movie house that will bring a welcome replacement for the Century Theaters that abruptly closed in December.
— Combat Sports Academy, which offers training in an array of fighting sports, has leased 26,600 square feet.
— Osteostrong, a health wellness business, leased 1,500 square feet.
All three tenants are slated to open in 2024, according to JLL commercial real estate brokers Jeff Badstubner and Justin Choi, who arranged the leasing deals on behalf of Blackhawk Plaza.
Ramanujan Group, an Orange County-based investment firm, paid $38.3 million for Blackhawk Plaza in 2020, documents on file with the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office show. Preferred Bank provided Ramanujan Group with $28 million in financing at the time of the transaction.
Apple Cinemas’ Danville movie complex site represents the company’s first location in California. The company’s movie theaters at present are all in New England or upstate New York.
Gameday VR, Starbunni Arcade and Posh Nail Bar also recently signed leases at Blackhawk Plaza, further bolstering the center’s tenant mix.
“Apple Cinemas and Combat Sports Academy are great complements to the existing retail mix at Blackhawk Plaza, which includes a strong grocer-anchor, Draeger’s, and more than 40 other shops and businesses,” said Badstubner, a managing director with JLL’s retail advisory unit.
