San Francisco Centre mall sold at auction for about $133 million

By John Ramos

The former Westfield Emporium in San Francisco, once a premier luxury shopping destination, has been sold at auction for pennies on the dollar.

The Westfield Mall on Market Street is now known as “San Francisco Centre.” The cavernous building is nearly deserted, most of the storefronts covered in a blank facade.

“It’s eerie, especially coming in as an outsider, said Romel Pacheco. “Coming in, you’re expecting so many stores, you know, like a typical mall but it’s not that at all.”

He and two friends visiting from Los Angeles stepped in to do some shopping.

“I mean, it looks like, what, seven floors? And there’s three stores that are open?” said Erick Linares. “It’s such a beautiful building and it’s in a prime location, but it’s just really empty. So, it’s kind of odd.”

With the pandemic ushering in online buying, the businesses never really bounced back. The owner group, including Westfield and Brookfield Properties, walked away from the mall in 2023 and, ever since, the stores have been dropping out one by one.

“It’s shocking but expected at the same time,” said SF native, Paula Reinda. “Every time I come, maybe like every three months, it’s emptier and emptier every time.”

In the late 90s, she managed a music store in the mall.

“And it was bustling. It was so busy you couldn’t even walk. So, seeing it like this is just unbelievable,” Reinda said.

That left the lenders, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase, holding an empty bag. The former billion-dollar property was put up for auction, and the two lenders ended up with the building at a cost of only $133 million.  

Complicating the matter is the fact that some of the land the mall sits on is owned by the San Francisco Unified School District. The lenders are reportedly in negotiations now to develop a new ground lease with the district. And they’ve hired a company called CBRE to try to find a buyer.  

In a statement, Executive VP Kyle Kovac struck a positive note.

“Amid renewed civic leadership, three consecutive years of positive population growth and surging demand from artificial intelligence and technology firms, San Francisco Centre & Emporium is uniquely positioned to anchor the next chapter in downtown San Francisco’s recovery,” he wrote.

Neil Wotherspoon wasn’t so optimistic. The SF resident comes once a week to the Panda Express in the basement. It’s the one business that seems to draw a crowd these days.

“I think these will be the last people to put the lights out,” he said. “I think you’ll end up with the only people who will come here will be like me to enjoy the food. Just for the Panda, that’s right.”