Sanctuary City’s Iconic Mall on the Verge of Collapse as Retailers Flee [WATCH]

San Francisco’s flagship downtown shopping center, once considered one of the premier malls in the country, is now nearly empty and headed toward foreclosure.

The San Francisco Centre, which opened in 1988 and became known for its nine-story structure, golden spiral staircase, and signature glass dome, has seen its retail space collapse from more than 200 stores at its peak to just 27 currently listed as open.

According to recent figures, 93 percent of the mall’s 1.56 million square feet of retail space now sits vacant.

The decline, which has unfolded over the past several years, has been marked by store closures, unpaid rent, and repeated delays of foreclosure auctions.

City officials and business leaders have pointed to multiple factors behind the downturn, including pandemic-era restrictions, rising concerns over retail theft, and the impact of homelessness in the downtown area.

The property was once a symbol of San Francisco’s economic vitality.

Its central dome became a popular meeting point, captured in the local saying, “Meet me under the Dome.”

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In 2009, the International Council of Shopping Centers awarded the mall a top industry prize, recognizing it as one of the best shopping centers worldwide.

The decline accelerated in 2023, when Nordstrom, the mall’s largest tenant, closed its multi-level store.

Shortly after, Westfield, the company managing the property, defaulted on a $558 million mortgage.

Since then, more than 100 additional stores have shuttered, including Zara, Milk Tea, and Michael Kors.

Bloomingdale’s also announced earlier this year that it would close its five-story location inside the Centre, decades before its 25-year lease was scheduled to end.

“We are hopeful to be back to serve the San Francisco community in the future,” a Macy’s spokesperson said in January.

The wave of closures has taken a toll on the mall’s value.

In 2016, the property was worth more than $1 billion.

Last month, it was appraised at just $195 million.

“How low can San Francisco Centre mall go?”

Latest appraisal is 16% of valuation 9 years ago.

Now $195M vs $1.2B in 2016.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Brookfield Properties stopped making payments on a $558M note a couple years ago; total exposure is $626M now.

The 1.5M SF… pic.twitter.com/RMsBemTssD

— Nightingale Associates (@FCNightingale) September 17, 2025

A foreclosure auction is scheduled for September 18, though the process has already been delayed eight times.

Ownership of the property remains uncertain as title transfers and auction plans continue to stall.

For now, only a handful of national retailers remain in the once-bustling mall.

Ray-Ban, H&M, Foot Locker, and Boss continue to operate clothing stores, while Shake Shack and Panda Express provide fast food options.

Amazon also maintains a locker pickup location inside the complex.

The contrast with other retail centers in the city is striking.

Stonestown Galleria, located a few miles west of downtown, has more than 110 stores, including several that once operated inside the San Francisco Centre.

That mall continues to attract large crowds of shoppers, many of whom avoid the downtown location altogether.

“No one wants to go downtown,” Elaine Wong, a store clerk at Stonestown, told The New York Times.

“Stonestown is better.”

The collapse of the San Francisco Centre marks one of the most dramatic retail declines in the city’s history, with its future now hinging on the upcoming foreclosure process.