By Roland Li April 19, 2024 (SFChronicle.com)
San Francisco’s largest, half-empty mall is seeing signs of a potential comeback. Literally.
Three empty retail spaces at Emporium San Francisco Centre, including one formerly occupied by Burberry, have been “leased,” according to recent identical red signs posted on their windows. The signs also say “coming soon.”
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The three spaces are all in the same area on the first floor of the northeastern side of the mall at 865 Market St., which is anchored by Bloomingdale’s.
A spokesperson for the mall’s managers, which include receiver Trident Pacific and brokerage JLL, didn’t provide any information on tenants’ identities or when they would open. The representative said that the tenants would be announcing plans in the future.
New store openings have become a rarity since 2020 in the Powell Street and Union Square shopping district, which has been slammed by a plunge in foot traffic following the pandemic and remote work.
The trio of potential new openings show there is still retailer demand for the mall formerly known as Westfield San Francisco Centre, even as ideas for a drastic makeover such as a new soccer stadium have been floated, though never formally proposed.
The mall has lost a slew of stores since the high-profile closure of Nordstrom last August. Hollister, Aldo, Adidas, Madewell and J. Crew all closed in January.
Sales tax revenue for the census block that includes the mall shows a drastic plunge in the last three years. In 2023, the area generated $1.7 million in sales tax, down 48% from $3.1 million in 2019, and also a drop from $2 million in 2022. The decline came despite the high-profile opening last August of IKEA in the same block. (The tax data does not include businesses with locations in multiple neighborhoods.)
Trident Pacific took over management of the mall after previous owners, real estate giants Westfield and Brookfield, stopped payments on their mortgage. Trident Pacific said in February that goals include attracting new experiential, entertainment and food tenants. It is also seeking to enhance security and host regular events.
Reach Roland Li: roland.li@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @rolandlisf
April 19, 2024
BUSINESS REPORTER
Roland Li covers commercial real estate for the business desk, focusing on the Bay Area office and retail sectors.
He was previously a reporter at San Francisco Business Times, where he won one award from the California News Publishers Association and three from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.
He is the author of “Good Luck Have Fun: The Rise of eSports,” a 2016 book on the history of the competitive video game industry. Before moving to the Bay Area in 2015, he studied and worked in New York. He freelanced for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and other local publications. His hobbies include swimming and urban photography.
He can be reached at roland.li@sfchronicle.com.
