Catellus, who is developing 215 acres north and west of the college, has been approved by the city to develop 1.3 million sf of office space and about 500 residential units. However, with the decline in demand for office space, the company has expressed interest in building a shopping center instead of research and development space.

However, when Catellus presented its plans for four retail areas within the center, the meeting's attendees said that it would be detrimental to business in the area. The shopping center would directly compete with Webster Street, a well-known community shopping area.

While Catellus is only toying with the idea of a shopping center, local residents fear the repercussions of it. The company has not made any arrangements with tenants or even filed an application to change its plans. But residents have voiced concern over Alameda becoming a big-box, low-rent district like Emeryville.

Catellus mentioned a recent leakage study performed by the city, which showed that Alameda residents spend $200 million annually outside of the city. Catellus representative also added that each sf of R&D and retail would generate the same amount of traffic. The retail proposal includes 450,000 sf, which would generate less traffic than the 600,000-sf office proposal.