Brookfield adds 600 homes to redevelopment at SF’s Stonestown mall

Brookfield Properties has cut a deal with the City of San Francisco that could replace the parking lots at the Stonestown Galleria mall with 3,500 homes.

The New York-based investor has forged a development agreement with the city to add 600 homes to its previous plan to revamp the 41-acre mall at 3251 20th Avenue, in Lakeside, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The deal must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Under the terms of the agreement, the unit of Toronto-based Brookfield would build 3,500 homes, of which 20 percent — or 700 homes, including a senior village — would be affordable. Brookfield would also donate three parcels to the city for affordable housing.

The $2 billion redevelopment, in the works for several years, would preserve the 775,000-square-foot indoor mall, built in 1952. In December, Brookfield tweaked its redevelopment plan for fewer offices and more homes, plus the elimination of a 200-room hotel.

A new timeline for construction was not disclosed.

Brookfield’s latest plan, according to the development agreement, calls for 6 acres of parks, including a town square with outdoor dining, recreation space and a plaza to host a farmer’s market. 

There would also be a “Main Street” of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues along 20th Avenue, which would total 150,000 square feet.

The project would include a child care center. The mall owner would make a $1 million contribution for playground improvements at Rolph Nicol Jr. Playground and a $2.7 million donation for Fire Station No. 19, which would serve the neighborhood.

Brookstone would also pay more than $50 million in development impact fees to the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency. Parking for an unspecified number of cars would largely be built underground and next to shops.

Mayor London Breed called the addition of 3,500 homes at Stonestown “a huge opportunity to add the homes and parks, while still maintaining an important retail center that serves our residents and boosts our economy.”

In a statement, Brookfield Senior Director Christie Donnelly said the development agreement “brings us closer to unlocking the site’s potential as a needed economic engine.

“Ultimately, we believe this transformative project will help to sustain Stonestown as a hub of commerce, community and culture,” she said.

San Francisco has a mixed record when it comes to multi-phased mega-projects, with a few moving forward as others stall, according to the Chronicle.

While builders are erecting homes on Treasure Island, Mission Rock and the old Potrero Power Plant, projects like Schlage Lock, Candlestick Point and India Basin have faltered. 

In 2011 the Board of Supervisors approved adding 5,600 units to Parkmerced, which now has 3,221 apartments. The project never broke ground. Its owner, Maximus Real Estate Partners, is now being foreclosed on by its lender. 

Stonestown has one attribute, however, that other property owners lack: a thriving and growing shopping center.

While department stores close and landlords abandon such malls as the former Westfield San Francisco Centre in Downtown, the list of shops and restaurants at Stonestown expands.

Its former Macy’s store was redeveloped in 2022 into an 11-screen Regal Stonestown Galleria Theater, Whole Foods, Sports Basement and several shops. Target expanded into the main floor of a former Nordstrom, while the food court has become a popular Asian food draw with Marugame Udon, Kura Revolving Sushi Bar and Yifang Taiwan Fruit Tea. 

It also had an influx of popular Japanese stores.

Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represents Stonestown and helped negotiate the development agreement, said she thinks Brookfield will be able to build at Stonestown even when other developers can’t get construction financing. 

“Brookfield is a much bigger company than Maximus and my experience with those folks is they run a very successful property,” Melgar told the Chronicle. “Stonestown is thriving. We have added hundreds of thousands of square feet of new retail space to make it a destination for the entire west side.

“They have access to capital and are not mortgaged up the wazoo like Maximus.” 

— Dana Bartholomew

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