San Francisco Shopping Mall Ravaged by Crime and Store Closures Sells at Auction for a Fraction of its Worth
The San Francisco Centre Mall, also known as the Westfield Emporium, sold at auction recently for a fraction of its original worth.
Even before Covid, lax progressive policies on crime, specifically shoplifting and low/no bail policies, were ruining businesses in downtown San Francisco. After Covid hit, all bets were off and stores that were located downtown and in shopping malls began to evaporate.
Stores were forced to deal with thieves, as well as drug users camping out on their doorsteps. The Centre Mall eventually became a ghost town as stores deserted the once vibrant shopping place.
That’s how this happened.
The Daily Mail reports:
Once-bustling mall worth $1.2b is sold for fraction of the price after being laid to waste in crime-ravaged blue city
An iconic mall 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.