San Francisco Mall Turned Over to Lender as Downtown Struggles

The owner of the Westfield San Francisco Centre said Monday it is turning the shopping mall over to its lender, in another blow to the city’s struggling downtown.

The decision comes six weeks after the mall’s main anchor, Nordstrom, announced it was shutting down the location.

San Francisco Centre owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield cited “challenging operating conditions” in downtown San Francisco, which it said have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic. There has been an exodus of retailers and other businesses from the mid-Market Street area of downtown amid rampant public drug use and homelessness.

“We have made the difficult decision to begin the process to transfer management of the shopping center to our lender to allow them to appoint a receiver to operate the property going forward,” the French mall operator said in a statement. “San Francisco Centre’s debt is non-recourse and this action has no impact on the rest of URW’s debt.” [MORE]