 | |
| Coordinates | 37°47′2″N122°24′26″W / 37.78389°N 122.40722°W /37.78389; -122.40722 |
|---|---|
| Address | 865 Market Street San Francisco, California 94103 |
| Opening date | October 1988 |
| Developer | Sheldon Gordon - Gordon Group Holdings |
| Management | JLL |
| Owner | Trident Pacific |
| Stores and services | 27 |
| Anchor tenants | 2 (0 open, 2 vacant) |
| Floor area | 1,564,533 sq ft (145,349.9 m2) (retail) 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2) (office)[1][2] |
| Floors | 9 (5 in former Nordstrom, 5 in former Bloomingdale's)Former Nordstrom levels closed to Public. |
| Public transit | Powell Street station  |
| Website | www |
San Francisco Centre is adead mall located inSan Francisco, California, United States. There are two vacant anchors, formerly occupied byNordstrom and Bloomingdale's. The mall connects directly to thePowell Street station via an underground entrance on the concourse floor.
Originally developed by Sheldon Gordon (co-developer ofThe Forum Shops at Caesars andBeverly Center), the nine-story mall opened in October 1988 asSan Francisco Shopping Centre with approximately 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of space, the then-largestNordstrom store (350,000 square feet (33,000 m2)) on the top several floors, the firstspiral escalator in the United States, and a connector to the adjoiningEmporium-Capwell flagship store.[3]
After a slow start, it soon became one of the top-performing shopping centers in the country. In 1996, the adjoining Emporium (it had dropped the Capwell name by then) was shuttered in the wake ofFederated Department Stores' buyout of its parent,Broadway Stores. The vacated store was temporarily used as aMacy's furniture store while it renovated itsUnion Square flagship in 1997.
In May 1997,Urban Shopping Centers, Inc., areal estate investment trust, acquired a half-interest and management of the center. This was followed by Urban's own buyout by Rodamco North America N.V. (a European property firm primarily invested in the United States) in October 2000 and Rodamco's subsequent sale to a consortium including theWestfield Group in January 2002. Westfield acquired its initial 50% stake in the center at this time and soon bought the rest.
In February 2003, Forest City, which had acquired redevelopment rights to the long-vacant Emporium store from Federated, reached an agreement with Westfield to jointly redevelop the two properties.[4]
The newly expanded mixed-useWestfield San Francisco Centre opened on September 28, 2006.[5] Designed by the Kohn Pedersen Fox architectural firm, withKevin Kennon as the Design Principal, the mall includedBloomingdale's West Coast flagship store, a nine-screenCentury Theatres multiplex theater featuring 2 XD screens, a 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2)Bristol Farms gourmet supermarket, and the Downtown Campus forSan Francisco State University in its 1.5 million+ ft² of space.
The redevelopment cost $440 million. Only the front façade and landmark dome of the original structure were preserved; the rest of the structure was completely gutted and replaced.[6] Upon completion of the project, Forest City became an equity partner and along with Westfield assumed responsibility for day-to-day management.[7] In March 2009, it was announced that Westfield San Francisco Centre shopping center was named as one of nine finalists vying for the title of "World’s Best Shopping Center" as part of theInternational Council of Shopping Centers Inc.’s inaugural "Best-of-the-Best" awards. Westfield San Francisco Centre ended up winning the "Best-of-the-Best" award for design and development; it was one of only four shopping centers in the world to win.[8]
In 2011, the San Francisco Police Department considered putting a substation in the mall to prevent rampant shoplifting.[9]
The Bristol Farms store closed on January 27, 2017.[10] In the summer of 2021, aShake Shack opened in the former Bristol Farms space.[11][12]
In June 2023, Westfield and Brookfield announced that, due to plunging post-pandemic sales, occupancy and foot traffic at the mall, they would stop making loan payments and cede the property to their lenders.[13][14] The Century Theatres multiplex closed on June 15, 2023.[15] In July 2023, the Westfield branding was removed from the mall, which was renamedSan Francisco Centre.[16]Nordstrom closed on August 27, 2023,[17] leaving Bloomingdale's as the only anchor store, at which point the mall's occupancy level had fallen to 55%.[18][19] MayorLondon Breed suggested that the mall could be redeveloped for another use, such as asoccer stadium,[20] while others suggested it be used as food halls,pickleball courts, and animal shelters.[21]
In September 2023, the owners of theAmerican Eagle store filed a lawsuit claiming mall management had failed to "maintain the Common Areas at the mall which has poisoned public opinion" about safety.[22]
In October 2023, Gregg Williams, the principal receiver of Trident Pacific[23] (areceivership firm), was appointed by a judge to take possession, custody, and control of the mall.[24]
By November 2023, and into early 2024, many stores had begun to close at the mall. This includesLEGO,[25] two-levelAdidas,[26]Hollister,[27]Aldo,[28]Madewell and sister chainJ.Crew,[29] andLucky Brand. The mall's occupancy level fell to only 25%,[30] and its valuation had plunged 75% from its 2016 level of $1.2 billion to only $290 million.[31]
On February 29, 2024, San Francisco Centre was renamedEmporium Centre San Francisco,[32] then in October, eight months after announcing the new name, management reverted back to the originalSan Francisco Centre name.[33]
Throughout 2024, more stores continued to close as a result of decline, this timeL'Occitane,Sephora,[34] American Eagle,[35] andTed Baker.[36][37] When American Eagle closed, with over three years remaining on its lease, it sued the mall's receivers, alleging that the building was not being maintained, leading to vermin and crime problems within the mall. The receiver threatened to countersue the store for breaking its lease. AE had already sued Westfield the previous year, alleging they had allowed the mall to decay as well.[38] A foreclosure auction was scheduled for November 14.[39] In January 2025, the mall'sMichael Kors store closed.[40] Seven more stores closed in early April 2025, including luxury watch stores Rolex, Bucherer, Panerai and IWC Schaffhausen,[41] as well as Sunglass Hut, Kate Spade and Coach.[42]
On January 21, 2025,Macy's, Inc. announced that the Bloomingdale's anchor store would close.[43] It closed in April 2025, leaving the mall without any anchor stores,[44] rendering the mall adead mall. With the lack of foot traffic, the restaurants in the mall report thatonline food ordering andfood delivery make up more than a third of their business.[45]
TheAPM Monaco jewelry store closed in April 2025, while theSwarovski jewelry store andJohn Varvatos clothing store announced their closures in May.[46]
A $625.6 million lien auction was originally set for June 17, 2025, in what would have been a fourth attempt to sell the beleaguered property[47] It was postponed to August 21.[48]
In August 2025,The New York Times described the dying mall as "a national symbol of the city's pandemic-battered downtown".[49] TheTimes contrasted the decline of San Francisco Centre against the renaissance ofStonestown Galleria on the other side of the city, and pointed to the mall's famous spiral escalator as a former symbol of its ascendancy that now stands as a symbol of its "downward spiral".[49]
The shopping center is nine stories tall and is integrated into nearby buildings.[50] The basement level is directly connected to two entrances forPowell Street station, which is served byBay Area Rapid Transit (BART) andMuni Metro trains. The mall's owners paid $750,000 annually to BART to maintain access to the station.[51] TheSan Francisco Unified School District receives lease payments as an owner of part of the land.[52]
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‡ Managed with no ownership interest. World Trade Center space is owned by thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Fulton Center space is owned by theMetropolitan Transportation Authority. | ||||||