Dead mall walking: Inside the reeling San Francisco Centre, store owners pray for a turnaround

...stripped of the Westfield name and the brand’s distinctive red lettering, the 1.5-million-square-foot San Francisco Centre has become synonymous with the challenges of Downtown San Francisco: a hollowed-out business district, vacancy rates hovering at historic highs, widespread public safety concerns and business owners like the Politrons trying to find a way to survive

On their way out the door, companies like Nordstrom and Whole Foods have cited deteriorating street conditions and security concerns for their decision to close up shop Downtown. 

Meanwhile, every person involved in commercial real estate agrees that the flight of office workers from urban cores broke the dam.  

The receiver reported that last October, it collected around $740,000 in rent from existing tenants against more than $1.9 million in expenses for the property, a not particularly attractive equation. 

The new landlord has also invested in placing additional security guards on every floor

Went to Westfield Mall yesterday, as I was in the area and a friend wanted me to pickup something for her that just happened to be available and only in that store.

What a weird place to be.

I felt like I was in the Financial Disctrict of San Francisco circa 2020 or the bald face lie of Covid.

I went to the 3rd floor to get this piece of clothing and on my way immediately saw 2/3rds of stores closed and observed the same on the way out.

Theater was gone as well, which is just terrible as that was one beautiful place to see a movie.

I took pictures of 5 floors just completely or nearly empty and sent them to friends.

The agreed it was awful.

There is no way in this mortal coil for that mall to be full again.

I will never go there again.