The mass exodus of retailers from San Francisco Centre mall continues with seven more stores in recent weeks, including one of the property’s largest: Zara.
Zara is the latest brand to exit the troubled mall after Brookfield Properties and Westfield defaulted on a $558 million loan in 2023, the San Francisco Examiner reported. Newport Beach-based Trident Pacific Real Estate Group was named receiver later that year.
The Zara shop was the largest store left in the mall to close, occupying 27,579 square feet in a two-floor flagship space, after the exits of Nordstrom in 2023 and Bloomingdale’s in April.
The Arteixo, Spain-based apparel company, a subsidiary of Inditex, is focusing on its previously announced plans of opening a store at 400 Post Street overlooking Union Square, a representative told the Examiner. That space spans more than 40,000 square feet across four floors and will replace a smaller Zara store at 250 Post Street.
Other stores at the nearly 1.5-million-square-foot retail-and-office complex are also currently heading for the doors.
Employees at Oak and Fort and AG Jeans confirmed to the Examiner that the stores were preparing to shutter, while the Milk Tee shop advertised a storewide closing. Streetwear store Nectar and travel product outpost Chalo is cleared out, the Examiner reported, while the Steve Madden store is closed completely. Men’s clothing shop John Varvatos remains open for now, though the New York-based brand said it plans to move into a replacement space at 58 Geary Street across the street.
In June 2023, New York-based Brookfield Properties and Westfield, a subsidiary of Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, stopped making payments on a $558 million loan from Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase that was backed by the massive Market Street mall. That October, a judge named Gregg Williams of Trident Pacific as the receiver of the property.
Today, the mall is 70 to 80 percent vacant, the Examiner reported. More than 20 stores are still in operation at San Francisco Centre, including staples like Aritzia, H&M, Boss, Ecco and Bath & Body Works.
A $625.6 million lien auction is scheduled for July 24, though it has been postponed several times over the past two years. The figure includes accumulated penalties, fees and interest on top of the $558 million loan amount.
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