A historic plaque stands on San Ramon Valley Boulevard just north of Fostoria. It marks where the San Ramon Grammar School stood. The school was built in 1867, taught local children until 1950, and was torn down in 1960. The San Ramon Valley Historical Society placed the marker on May 17, 1997, according to the Museum of the San Ramon Valley.
Behind the plaque, at 2233 San Ramon Valley Blvd., is Morgan's Masonry Supply. Murphy and Gladys Morgan started it on the old school grounds after the school closed. This summer the family announced a closing sale. As DanvilleSanRamon.com reported in July, an employee said the store would stay open for the time being and had no final closing date. If you want a last pallet of pavers at a discount, call ahead.
This corner near the Danville border was once meant to be the center of San Ramon. Downtown went somewhere else, and for about forty years the stretch kept its older businesses. Those businesses are now turning over one address at a time, and the city's housing rules decide which parcels change first.
Four plans, and the downtown went east
The city first drew this area as its central gathering place in the 1986 Downtown Specific Plan. It was later folded into the 1991 Conservation and Enhancement Program, then the 2006 Crow Canyon Specific Plan, and finally the San Ramon Village Specific Plan, adopted in 2020 and amended in the 2023 general plan update. The consultants who wrote the current plan explained why the first version never happened. DanvilleSanRamon.com quoted their summary:
"The original concept for the area as a downtown for the community was preempted by the development of the City Center Complex, which shifted the community's focus southward and east of I-680, and diverted demand for the retail marketplace envisioned by the Downtown Specific Plan."
The same plan calls the area "currently underutilized" but able to "develop into a … mixed use district for the community." Residents saw the results of that delay for decades. A family masonry yard kept operating on land that had been marked for redevelopment since the 1990s. A produce stand grew into a year-round market. A vacant 2.5-acre lot stayed empty. City Manager Steven Spedowfski told the outlet that the Morgan's owners had talked with potential buyers for five years before choosing a housing developer.
From 2222 to 2410, address by address
Taken one address at a time, this short stretch shows nearly every kind of change happening along the boulevard.
| Address | Today | What changed | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2222 San Ramon Valley Blvd. | El Forastero, open 24/7 | Took over the drive-thru that housed Wendy's for nearly a decade | Opened Dec. 15, 2025 |
| 2233 San Ramon Valley Blvd. | Morgan's Masonry Supply | Closing sale; a 131-unit affordable apartment project is planned | Sale announced July 2026 |
| 2251 San Ramon Valley Blvd. | Vacant 2.5-acre lot | 45-townhome application replaces an expired 2016 approval | Filed Aug. 24, 2026 |
| 2255 San Ramon Valley Blvd. | Windmill Farms Produce | Still operating, family-run | Since 1974 |
| 2410 San Ramon Valley Blvd., Suite 140 | Gregory's Gourmet Desserts | Second location for the Oakland basement bakery | Soft opening summer 2026 |
The two food openings show what kind of business this stretch draws right now. El Forastero has nearly 20 locations, mostly around Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley. San Ramon is its first Bay Area restaurant. It serves breakfast and its full menu around the clock, with dine-in, takeout, drive-thru, delivery and catering.
Gregory's came in quietly. The East Bay Times reported a soft opening, with the San Ramon shop "at the center of a sweet nebula of bakeries that include Tous les Jours, Dainty Donuts and Best Donuts." Baker Gregory Williams runs both shops. The original is in a basement at 285 23rd St. in downtown Oakland. The San Ramon counter carries the cheesecakes, sweet-potato pie, peach cobbler and cinnamon rolls that built the bakery's following. It's open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.
Why 2233 moves faster than 2251
The two housing sites sit almost next to each other, but they are going through very different processes.
The Morgan's parcel is a Housing Opportunity Site in the city's Housing Element. All 131 planned units are set aside for extremely low- to low-income households, so the project skips the usual hearings. "Because of the site's status as a Housing Opportunity Site and their proposal to designate 100% of the units as affordable units, the project qualified for 'by-right' approval meaning there is no discretionary review required," city planning division manager Cindy Yee told DanvilleSanRamon.com. An earlier 200-unit mixed-use idea for the site reached a conceptual workshop in 2017 and never went further. The store has not set a closing date, and the July report said it was unclear when the apartments would be built.
Next door, 2251 is on its second try. The city approved a 169-unit apartment building with 6,100 square feet of retail there in 2016, and those permits expired at the start of 2025. Santa Clara-based ROEM Development Corp. brought a smaller concept to the Planning Commission in June. It calls for 45 townhomes in five three-story buildings with porches, two to four bedrooms each, and 87 parking spaces. There is no retail in the new plan. The city's pending housing projects page shows the formal application was filed Aug. 24, 2026. Its completeness and consistency reviews are still listed as TBD.
Losing the retail matters on a street first drawn as a shopping district. The 1986 downtown was meant to anchor retail on this block. The newest proposal for the vacant lot includes none.
Windmill Farms is the one holding its place
Windmill Farms Produce, at 2255 San Ramon Valley Blvd., sits between the two housing sites. The family-run business says it was founded in 1974 and grew from a roadside stand into a year-round open-air market. It's open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. A 2023 CBS report syndicated on Patch said the Christmas tree business came first and the produce stand followed.
That makes November and December the market's original season. The Windmill Farms site lists a petting zoo, thousands of pumpkins, and fresh-cut Christmas trees and wreaths. It doesn't post dates or holiday hours for 2026, so call before you plan a tree run. Every plan for this area since 1986 has worked around the market, and its seasonal schedule has kept going through all of them.
Further south, the same reuse at Bollinger
The pattern repeats down the boulevard. Clementine's opened in 2012 at 18070 San Ramon Valley Blvd., at the southeast corner of Bollinger Canyon Road. It moved into the building Marie Callender's left about a year earlier. For years it hosted the monthly Mayor's Breakfast. DanvilleSanRamon.com reported on Oct. 21 that Clementine's had closed and is being remodeled into Casa Mia under the same owners. Casa Mia serves Mexican and American food and already has locations in San Jose, Mountain View and San Carlos. San Ramon will be its first East Bay location. The owners haven't announced an opening day. The restaurant's online ordering system listed Nov. 5 as a reopening date, so check before you drive over.
That building has now changed hands twice without being torn down. El Forastero did the same thing in the old Wendy's. On most of this boulevard, change looks like a new name going up on an existing building.
The road itself is getting work too. The city's 2026 pavement project includes night resurfacing on San Ramon Valley Boulevard between Pine Valley Road and Montevideo Drive. The work runs Sunday, Nov. 1 through Thursday, Nov. 5, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., weather permitting. One lane stays open, and the city's street closures page warns of delays. Goodfellow Bros. holds the citywide paving contract, which is scheduled through December.
The November and December calendar, both sides of 680
City Center, the development that took the downtown role, starts its holiday season on Friday, Nov. 6. Here are the dates that pull traffic off the boulevard:
- Friday, Nov. 6, 6–7 p.m. Opening ceremony for the Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Rink at City Center Bishop Ranch. The rink stays open through Jan. 3.
- Friday, Nov. 20, 6–7 p.m. Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony, with the Monte Vista Band, singers and Santa's arrival.
- Nov. 21–22, Nov. 27–29, Dec. 5–6, Dec. 12–13 and Dec. 19–20. Visits with Santa in the Square.
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 8:30–10:30 a.m. Bishop Ranch Turkey Trot, a 5K plus a Tiny Turkey Fun Run, supporting the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 9 a.m. The city's Bah Humbug! 5K starts and finishes at San Ramon Central Park Community Center, 12501 Alcosta Blvd. Sections of Alcosta Boulevard, Norris Canyon Road, Camino Ramon, Hospital Drive and Executive Parkway will be closed or restricted from 6:30 to 11 a.m.
The north end of the boulevard has no ceremonies on that list. Its holiday season is the tree lot at Windmill Farms, the bakery cases at 2410, a taqueria that's open at 3 a.m., and possibly a final discount sale at the masonry yard next to the 1867 schoolhouse plaque.
If you own near the north end of the boulevard and want to know what the 2233 and 2251 projects could mean for your plans, Chris Strange and the Rise Group team can walk you through it parcel by parcel. Start building your East Bay home wealth.
