The Commons at Calabasas Is Getting a Major Makeover — Here's What It Means for Your Home Value

What is happening at The Commons at Calabasas? Developer Rick Caruso broke ground in February 2026 on a 190,000-square-foot expansion of The Commons at Calabasas, adding roughly 27,000 square feet of new shops and restaurants along "Commons Lane" plus 80 luxury apartments where the shuttered Regency movie theater once stood.

If you've driven through Calabasas lately, you've probably noticed the fencing going up around the old theater. That's not a random renovation — it's the first ground-up expansion of The Commons since it opened in 1998, and it's one of the biggest local development stories to hit this corner of the San Fernando Valley in years. As a REALTOR® with Shore Homes who works this market every day, I'm getting the same three questions from clients: What's actually being built? Why now? And what does it mean for my home's value?

Let's break down all three.

What's Actually Being Built at The Commons

The Regency Calabasas theater closed its doors for good on December 28, 2025, marking the end of first-run movies in the corridor between Thousand Oaks and Woodland Hills. In its place, Caruso's team is building:

• 80 luxury apartment homes, tucked between the shops and the hillside, set back from the street and designed to serve empty nesters, young professionals, and families who want to stay in Calabasas without owning a house
• Approximately 27,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space, with outdoor dining along a widened pedestrian paseo
• New community gathering space, including plans for movies in the park, live music, and public events — all designed to complement The Commons' original Mediterranean, Umbrian-village architecture

The existing 200,000-plus-square-foot shopping center — Barnes & Noble, See's Candies, Lululemon, and newer additions like Bacio di Latte, Kazu Nori, and BLVD Steak — isn't going anywhere. This is additive construction, not a teardown of the center itself. Some new stores and restaurants are expected to open by the end of 2026, with the apartments coming online in 2027.

Why Is This Happening Now?

It comes down to two forces meeting at the same time: a changing retail landscape and Calabasas' own housing goals.

Movie attendance has been declining nationally for years as streaming has taken over, and the Regency Calabasas theater wasn't the only casualty — the Malibu Colony and Agoura Hills Regency theaters closed within the same stretch. Rather than let that space sit empty, Caruso and the City of Calabasas saw an opportunity to modernize an aging piece of the property while adding housing that the city needs.

At the groundbreaking, Caruso's team framed the apartments as a way to let longtime residents "age in place" — move out of a house they no longer need to maintain without leaving the community they've lived in for decades. City officials, including Calabasas Mayor James Bozajian, were on hand for the ceremony, a signal of how much local government is backing this project.

How Will This Affect the Calabasas Area?

Expect three real, tangible effects over the next 18–24 months:

1. Construction activity and traffic. Any project of this size means construction traffic, some lane closures, and noise near The Commons through 2026 and into 2027. If you live in a neighborhood that feeds directly into Commons Way or Calabasas Road, expect some disruption during peak building phases.

2. A refreshed retail and dining scene. New restaurants with outdoor dining and additional curated shops will add to what's already one of the most walkable, high-end shopping destinations in the Valley. That's a draw not just for shoppers but for prospective buyers evaluating lifestyle amenities.

3. New housing inventory — but not competing with single-family homes. The 80 apartments are rental units, not homes for sale, so they won't directly compete with the resale single-family market. What they will do is add density and daytime population right in the heart of Calabasas, which tends to support the retail and restaurant tenants nearby.

How Will This Affect Home Prices in Calabasas?

This is the question I get asked most, and the honest answer is: it depends on timing and property type, but the long-term signal is positive.

Right now, Calabasas is in a bit of a transition. The median home sale price sits around $1.8 million, and recent data shows prices have softened slightly year-over-year in some pockets even as certain neighborhoods, like Calabasas Hills and The Oaks, have posted double-digit gains. Inventory has ticked up, which has given buyers a little more room to negotiate — a shift from the tighter seller's market of the past few years.

Here's why the Commons redevelopment matters for pricing specifically:

• Amenity-driven value tends to hold up. Homes within walking or short driving distance of a well-maintained, high-end retail and dining hub consistently command a premium over comparable homes farther from those amenities. A refreshed Commons only strengthens that draw.
• Investment signals confidence. When a developer with Caruso's track record — the same team behind The Grove and Palisades Village — commits capital to a market, it's typically read as a vote of confidence in that submarket's long-term trajectory, not a short-term flip.
• Short-term noise, long-term gain. Construction phases can create temporary friction for homes closest to the site (noise, traffic, dust), which is worth factoring into pricing strategy if you're selling nearby in the next year. But once complete, upgraded retail corridors historically add to, not subtract from, surrounding home values.
• Rental apartments can support move-up buyers. Some of the residents who move into the new apartments will be locals selling their existing homes to downsize — which can add inventory in certain price points while keeping those sellers, and their equity, in the local market.

If you're planning to sell a home near The Commons in the next year, the construction timeline is worth discussing directly — there are ways to position and time a listing so you capture the upside of the redevelopment without getting caught in the messiest part of the build.

FAQ: The Commons at Calabasas Redevelopment

When will the new shops and apartments at The Commons at Calabasas open? Caruso's team expects some new restaurants and retail space to open by the end of 2026, with the 80 apartment homes coming online in 2027.

Is the entire Commons at Calabasas shopping center being demolished? No. Only the former Regency movie theater site is being redeveloped. The existing shops, restaurants, and Mediterranean-style architecture at The Commons remain untouched.

Will the Commons redevelopment increase home prices in Calabasas? Long term, proximity to a well-invested, high-end retail and dining destination typically supports home values. Short term, homes closest to the active construction zone may see some temporary friction until the project is complete.

Thinking About Buying or Selling Near The Commons at Calabasas?

Whether you're weighing the right time to list a home near this redevelopment or you want a read on how it could shape your search for a home in Calabasas, I'm happy to walk through the data with you.

Call or text me at 818.421.2328, or reach out at Jason@shorehomes.info.

Best, Jason Franklin REALTOR® | Shore Homes Pinnacle Estate Properties