The Golden Skate roller rink in San Ramon has been a favorite of Bay Area skaters for 47 years.

One of the Bay Area’s few remaining roller skating rinks, which had been set to close permanently this month — and eventually be razed and replaced by a housing development — will remain open indefinitely, its owner said Tuesday.

The Golden Skate, a fixture for 47 years in San Ramon, had announced that Sunday would be its final day in business. City officials last year approved a proposal from owner Hassan Sharifi, who purchased the Golden Skate in 1995, to redevelop the site into 47 townhome units.

Over the past several decades, as skating rinks across the region have shuttered, the Golden Skate became a hub for the roller skating community in the Bay Area and surrounding regions.

Sharifi announced he was closing the rink in a letter in October 2021, saying the company had suffered “enormous financial damages” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rink closed when the pandemic shutdown began in March 2020 and reopened in May 2021, but the goal of breaking even or achieving profitability proved “unrealistic,” the letter said.

Sharifi’s age was also a factor in the decision, he told The Chronicle. “I’m in my 80s and I don’t know how long I can continue,” he said.

Since the closure announcement, throngs of people have flocked to the Golden Skate to bid their farewells.

Many shared memories of countless hours gliding around the hardwood floor, attending birthday parties or working their first jobs there.

“Said goodbye to my hometown skating rink where I worked and played for many years in my teens,” one person wrote in an Instagram post.

However, people will have the chance to continue skating at Golden Skate — for now.

Sharifi told The Chronicle on Tuesday that he had decided this week to keep the rink open until he can find a developer to build the proposed housing, or unless a buyer offers to keep the rink open. Recent news reports of the skating community sharing their memories and saying their goodbyes “really got me,” he said.

“The overwhelming, kind response from our local patrons, Bay Area adult skaters and our local leaders and friends to what we have been doing for so many years has caused us to (reconsider) our decision to close the Golden Skate at the end of July,” Sharifi said.

“Our dedicated staff has agreed to stay for (the) unseeable future and enjoy the happiness of so many young and old adult skaters visiting our rink on a regular basis,” he said.

The San Ramon Planning Commission in December approved a proposal from Sharifi to build housing on the property where the Golden Skate is located.

Bay Area cities are under pressure to meet California’s ambitious, mandatory production goals to help ease the housing crunch.

The proposed development, called the Windflower Fields Townhomes, would include 47 for-sale townhomes and an additional 16 accessory dwelling units that would be built into the townhomes and rented below market rate.

As of Tuesday, building permits had not been issued for the San Ramon project, and it was not immediately clear when construction would begin, said Cindy M. Yee, a planner with the city. She said it can take years before a property owner finds a developer and starts construction on a project.

Sharifi has a three-year time frame to find a developer for the Windflower Fields Townhomes, and can request an extension that does not exceed a total of three years, Yee said.

The fact that no developer has yet come on board and that construction has not begun is “not something that would register as anything we would necessarily need to be concerned about,” she said.

Sharifi said he has received offers from developers but none that could be completely mutually agreed on. He declined to elaborate further, saying negotiations between buyer and seller were confidential.

Grashan Austin of Oakland told The Chronicle that Golden Skate was where he first started skating, and he also began his DJ career there. It’s a home for many newer and older skaters alike, he said.

Golden Skate remaining open for now could “be like the rebirth of something new” for the culture of skating in the Bay Area, he added.

“I’ve got a lot of memories here,” said Austin, who started DJing at Golden Skate in 2017. “If it wasn’t for this rink, to be completely honest, I probably would not be the same skater and the same DJ that I am today.”

Michelle Ritchie of Castro Valley told The Chronicle it was "amazing" that Golden Skate will remain open indefinitely.

"Skating is more than a hobby. It's an absolute way of life," said Ritchie, 43, who has been skating at Golden Skate since she was a child. "Saving our rinks is my big message."

Jessica Flores (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores

Jessica Flores is a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining The Chronicle in 2021, she worked for USA Today, NPR affiliate KPCC and Curbed LA. Originally from L.A., she received her master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a bachelor's degree from Mount Saint Mary's University in Los Angeles.