 The Metreon viewed from the northwest,c. 2002 | |
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| Coordinates | 37°47′04″N122°24′12″W / 37.784374°N 122.403424°W /37.784374; -122.403424 |
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| Address | 135 Fourth Street San Francisco,California 94103 |
| Opening date | June 16, 1999; 25 years ago (1999-06-16) |
| Developer | Sony |
| Management | Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield |
| Owner | Starwood Capital Group |
| Architect | Handel Architects |
| No. of stores and services | 25 |
| No. ofanchor tenants | 1 |
| Total retail floor area | 350,000 sq ft (33,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 4 |
| Parking | 1,800 |
| Public transit access | Powell Street station |
| Website | shoppingmetreon |
TheMetreon is a shopping center located in downtownSan Francisco,California, United States at the corner of 4th Street andMission Street. It is a four-story 350,000 sq ft (33,000 m2) building built over the corner of the undergroundMoscone Center convention center. Metreon opened on June 16, 1999, as the first of a proposed chain ofSony "urban entertainment centers", aggregating dining, games, music, exhibitions, shopping, and movies. Sony intended the ambitiousUS$85 million (equivalent to $160 million in 2024) project to be a theme park and gallery for Sony products, and to reinforce a sophisticated image for the Sony brand.
In 2006, Metreon was sold toWestfield Group, a mall developer, and it was refashioned as a food-oriented mall. In 2011, most remaining businesses in the mall were closed. Westfield began a major renovation with an emphasis on dining, includingTarget, creating a large downtowndepartment store that now takes up the second floor. In April 2012, Westfield sold the Metreon to Starwood Capital Group.[1] Westfield (and its successor,Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield) continues to be responsible for management.
The Metreon's original attractions include a movie theater with both standard andIMAX screens, a multimediaedutainment presentation involvingaudio-animatronics and3-D film based on the famous bookThe Way Things Work byDavid Macaulay, a play area for young children based onMaurice Sendak's popular children's bookWhere the Wild Things Are (sharing a floor with anIn the Night Kitchen themed restaurant), and an arcade and bar, theAirtight Garage, based on French comic artist and graphic designerJean "Moebius" Giraud'sgraphic novel of the same name and featuring all original games.[citation needed]
In October 2001, Metreon, in partnership with Sony'sanime television network,Animax, was host to ananime festival, in which numerous anime videos were broadcast across itsAction Theatre.[2] As a hub for Sony products, the Metreon often hosted special events for the public when new products were released. Consumers flocked to the Metreon for high-demand items such as thePlayStation,PlayStation 2,PlayStation Portable, andPlayStation 3.[citation needed]
Although Sony opened two additional centers inTokyo andBerlin in 1999, the original center failed to turn the expected profit. Sony promised first-year foot traffic of six million, one million above pre-launch projections, but by mid 2001 "The Way Things Work" was closed. The other major exhibit, "Where the Wild Things Are," closed sometime after July 2004.[citation needed]
The Airtight Garage's games were unpopular, with the exception ofHyperBowl, a 3D obstacle course bowling game featuring air-supported bowling balls used astrackballs, and they were gradually replaced by other, better-known games. The arcade was finally closed, then reopened as Portal One, which preserved the decor, full bar, and Hyperbowl but was otherwise a typical arcade. May 13, 2007 was Portal One arcade's last day of operation. The arcade was relaunched again as a Tilt.[citation needed]
The 16-screenLoews (nowAMC) theater was a success, becoming one of the most profitable theaters in the country and claiming much of the Metreon foot traffic; the lease agreement did not apportion ticket or concession sales to Metreon, however.[3]
By 2002, persistent rumors said that Sony wished to withdraw from management of the property. In February 2006, Metreon was sold toThe Westfield Group, the owner of the nearbyWestfield San Francisco Centreshopping mall, andForest City Enterprises, a real estate development company.[citation needed]
In early 2009, Sony announced that it would be closing the Sony and PlayStation stores, the last flagship stores located in the mall. Following the announcement, on March 3, 2009, theSan Francisco Redevelopment Agency approved plans from ownersWestfield Group andForest City Enterprises to renovate Metreon into a "restaurant-centric" mall. Expected modifications include relocation of the Fourth and Mission street entrance to the center of the block and the installation of a food terrace facing Yerba Buena Gardens. The San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center and the "Tavern on the Green" restaurant were projected tenants.[4] Tavern on the Green, however, entered bankruptcy on September 11, 2009, "throwing into doubt" the plans for the Metreon location.[5]
The Metreon building has been redeveloped as aTarget store, opened in October 2012.[6] Target is leasing 99,677 square feet (9,260.3 m2).[7] The other tenants are the AMC theater (now with its own entrance), a food court, Chronicle Books, Massage Envy, National University, The City View event space, and various other food purveyors not directly in the court.[8] The Sanraku sushi restaurant and Buckhorn sandwich shop remain in the new food court, along with Jillians, which is now only accessible from outside. Themovie theater has also experienced upgrades, with theIMAX auditorium now featuring their new laser projector, and the addition ofDolby Cinema and recliner seats.
Cal Hacks began hosting it's annual hackathon at The Metreon in 2023.
The Metreon 16, anIMAX 3Dmovie theater andDolby Cinema theater operated byAMC Theatres, and Jillians, a restaurant, were the only attractions that remained open when Target opened in 2012.
TheWalk of Game is loosely based on theWalk of Fame, in which honorees includeShigeru Miyamoto,Nolan Bushnell,StarCraft,Sid Meier,John D. Carmack,Super Mario,Sonic The Hedgehog, andLink fromThe Legend of Zelda series. A special Walk of Game event took place there in 2005 and 2006. It was unknown that it would ever continue and is now most likely obsolete, now that Target is taking up the second floor where the Walk of Game was.
A seven-day-a-week farmers' market operated as an interim tenant in the former Discovery Channel Store space between May and November 2009.[9]
TheMichelin-starred Tsutaramen shop inTokyo, Japan, expanded into the Metreon in October 2019.[10]
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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. | ||||||
