Australian developer Westfield and US group Forest City Enterprises today opened Westfield San Francisco Centre, the joint venture’s $460m (£245m) regeneration of the city’s Emporium site into a shopping, office and entertainment destination.
The 1.5m sq ft mixed-use centre, which will lie adjacent to the Union Square shopping district on Market Street, will be the largest shopping centre west of the Mississippi.
It is projected to attract 25m visitors pa and generate more than $600m (£320m) in annual retail sales.
It will be anchored by the US’s second largest Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom.
It also includes a mix of 170 specialty stores and exclusive boutiques, 245,000 sq ft of offices, the Restaurant Collection, comprising seven full-service restaurants, ghe Food Emporium, housing Bristol Farms gourmet market and 14 fast-casual gourmet eateries, Burke Williams Day Spa, and a nine-screen, state-of-the-art Century Theatres.
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom said: “The new Westfield San Francisco Centre will be an anchor in the transformation of the mid-Market corridor.
“It will, we believe, bring a new era of shoppers, diners and entertainment seekers to downtown. It will help make Market Street once again the main boulevard of the city, as it was back in the 19th century.”
References: EGi News 29/09/06
