What Should Replace San Francisco Centre?

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After years of being known as a defunct mall, San Francisco Centre officially closed last weekend leaving 1.2 million square feet of vacant space. The mall was once a centerpiece of San Francisco’s shopping district, but it was hit hard by online shopping, the pandemic, and declining foot traffic downtown. Still, the building and 6-acre site pose what some are calling a major opportunity to help revitalize downtown. We’ll talk about what could be done with the vacant mall and the challenges facing San Francisco’s once-grand retail hub. Guests: Michael Covarrubias, chairman and CEO, TMG partners, a San Francisco-based development company J.K. Dineen, Bay Area housing reporter, San Francisco Chronicle Laura Crescimano, co-founder and leader, SITELAB urban studio Lisa Huang, design director, Gensler Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KQED Podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport. SFO passengers can park with ease and secure the best rates by booking online. They can choose dates and times all in advance. More at flysfo.com slash parking.
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0:34.2	Welcome to Forum.
0:38.6	I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:41.9	With any fall, there has to be a bottom, right?
0:46.4	Well, when it comes to San Francisco retail, maybe we've reached that bottom.
0:52.2	Over the weekend, San Francisco Center, formerly known as the Westfield Mall, closed. The massive 1.2 million square foot shopping mall sits right on Market Street and leaves a huge hole in the urban fabric.
1:00.3	Before the pandemic, more than 200 businesses operated out of the mall.
1:05.0	It is, of course, only the latest hit for downtown, which had its trajectory permanently altered by COVID.
1:12.1	While the rest of San Francisco has been on a major upswing, both in vibes and statistics,
1:17.9	downtown remains deep in funk. So today we talk with people who are involved in reporting
1:23.6	on the efforts to reimagine the core commercial district of the city.
1:32.8	Talking about what could be done, we've got J.K. Deneen reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle.
1:33.1	Welcome.
1:35.0	Thank you for having me.
1:40.7	We've got Laura Cressamano, who's co-founder and principal of Sight Lab Urban Studio.
1:41.1	Welcome.
1:42.0	Morning.
1:47.9	And we've got Lisa Wang, who is design director for Gensler, an architecture and design firm.
	...

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