By Ryan Saavedra
Westfield is pulling out from operating San Francisco’s largest mall amid deteriorating conditions in the Democrat-controlled city, the company said in a statement.
The move by the real estate giant comes after Nordstrom announced in May that it would be closing its location at the Westfield San Francisco Centre in August.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Westfield stopped making payments on a $558 million loan as the company and its partner, Brookfield Properties, have begun the process of offloading control of the mall.
“For more than 20 years, Westfield has proudly and successfully operated San Francisco Centre, investing significantly over that time in the vitality of the property,” the company said in a statement. “Given the challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco, which have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic, we have made the difficult decision to begin the process to transfer management of the shopping center to our lender to allow them to appoint a receiver to operate the property going forward.”