San Bruno city officials Friday lauded a multimillion-dollar real estate purchase by a major developer that will enable the developer to transform a dying mall into housing and a sprawling campus for biotech and tech firms.

"City leaders are encouraged by the recent announcement that Alexandria Real Estate has closed on the third and final parcel at the 44-acre Tanforan site located in San Bruno," Jovan Grogan, San Jose's city manager, said in a statement.

The "third and final parcel" Grogan referenced is the main retail and restaurant part of The Shops at Tanforan shopping center. The developer had already bought the other two other privately held parcels that made up the mall, and the combined price of all three runs in the hundreds of millions.

The city manager said changes in consum

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