Once-bustling mall worth $1.2b is sold for fraction of the price after being laid to waste in crime-

[PeteS in CA]

Once-bustling mall worth $1.2b is sold for fraction of the price after being laid to waste in crime-ravaged blue city

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15287597/westfield-emporium-san-francisco-california.html

An iconic mall in San Francisco foreclosed for a fraction of the billion-dollar valuation it once commanded as Covid shutdowns and out-of-control crime left the seven-story behemoth a shell of its former self.

Valued at $1.2 billion nearly a decade ago, the San Francisco Centre Mall, previously known as the Westfield Emporium, was sold at an auction on Wednesday to lenders Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the mall served as a shopping hub in San Francisco, with residents and tourists flocking to its vibrant energy and big-name brands.

As consumers turned away from the city's sketchy downtown and toward online shopping, however, the mall's value declined drastically. An appraisal at the end of 2022 valued the property at only $290 million, a 76 percent drop from its height before the pandemic.

But lenders purchased the property for even less than appraisals, with the final sticker price for the sprawling 1.5 million square-foot mall only $133 million - or just 11 percent of its top valuation.

The mall had been "leaking" stores for years, even pre-Covid. It's a retail ghosttown with less than 10% of its space under current lease and zero "anchor" stores. Between the risks of crime on surrounding streets, car smash-and-grab robberies, and the potential of odoriferous Sacred Homeless and crime inside the mall, their were more attractive alternatives a 10 or 20 minute drive south on I280 or US 101.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Sad, isn't it?

I consider SF the most beautiful of America's big cities.

But that beauty is not enough to convince me to revisit it anytime soon.

[Sighlass]

What the heck can you make out of a mall... Retail requires foot traffic with willing spending blow-dough. Can you make bank with renting to non-retail in office space? Work with a mall view. Apartments with a mall view (say bar off the top floors for just office and apartment dwellers).  Imagine the heating and cooling costs and the eco-warriors constantly picketing. Actually a nice looking building, so interested what the big brains can accomplish with such a structure.

[GtHawk]

What the heck can you make out of a mall... Retail requires foot traffic with willing spending blow-dough. Can you make bank with renting to non-retail in office space? Work with a mall view. Apartments with a mall view (say bar off the top floors for just office and apartment dwellers).  Imagine the heating and cooling costs and the eco-warriors constantly picketing. Actually a nice looking building, so interested what the big brains can accomplish with such a structure.

Locally we have a large mall that just closed its last anchor stores and I think all inside. All that’s left is a crappy Target and that will probably close too. The plans are for residential apartments, combination commercial and residential and park areas. It will probably do quite well in its new life being surrounded by residential and adjacent to the 405 fwy in Westminster, CA. I don’t know if they could pull it off in San Francisco.

[PeteS in CA]

Sad, isn't it?

I consider SF the most beautiful of America's big cities.

But that beauty is not enough to convince me to revisit it anytime soon.

I think I last went to SF was in 2014, accompanying my daughter on her visit to the Chinese consulate (to get a student visa). There are several running events in SF that are quite scenic, but logistics like parking are crazy and pricey. The distance from the closest BART station to the start/finish areas is on the order of 2 miles. So it's not very practical for me, and then there's the Sacred Homeless and thug-wannabes.

What the heck can you make out of a mall... Retail requires foot traffic with willing spending blow-dough. Can you make bank with renting to non-retail in office space? Work with a mall view. Apartments with a mall view (say bar off the top floors for just office and apartment dwellers).  Imagine the heating and cooling costs and the eco-warriors constantly picketing. Actually a nice looking building, so interested what the big brains can accomplish with such a structure.

I really don't know. Converting it to office space is possible - a large company in San Jose uses a former Fry's Electronics location - but companies are currently moving away from SF. Converting to lofts/condos would not be very easy, lots of plumbing and electrical work. I'm almost wondering if the plan is to demolish it and build a multi-story condo building.

[libertybele]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsCRk7-zd9I&list=RDLsCRk7-zd9I&start_radio=1

[Kamaji]

What the heck can you make out of a mall... Retail requires foot traffic with willing spending blow-dough. Can you make bank with renting to non-retail in office space? Work with a mall view. Apartments with a mall view (say bar off the top floors for just office and apartment dwellers).  Imagine the heating and cooling costs and the eco-warriors constantly picketing. Actually a nice looking building, so interested what the big brains can accomplish with such a structure.

Depending on how much electric (or possibly gas), water service, and waste service was already built into the spaces, it might be possible to build a mixed-use community within a single mall building comprised of residential apartments with the sort of retail stores that people want close to where they live, like restaurants, grocery stores, dry-cleaners, pharmacies, and small convenience stores.