San Francisco may not be irretrievably lost as a viable metropolis — yet. But its status as one of America’s great cities is gone and it’s hard to see how the once-golden city can return to its dazzling glory as a center of art, architecture, and commerce.
It’s not unprecedented in America. St. Louis, Cleveland, Buffalo — all were once thriving cities. All have since lost at least half their population, and those who remain have failed to regenerate the vibrancy, the energy of the early to mid-20th century.
But what’s truly shocking about the demise of San Francisco has been the speed at which the city has fallen and the blasé attitude of the city’s wealthy toward the catastrophe. They have been insulated from the skyrocketing cost of living, unaffected by the rise in violent crime, uncaring about the pandemic of looting and “shoplifting,” and ignorant of the homelessness/drug/mental illness problem that is making their city unlivable for all.
One sign of the rapidly declining livability of San Francisco is the hotel occupancy rate.
But in San Francisco, hotels are still struggling badly in both occupancy and room rates compared with before the pandemic. Revenue per available room was nearly 23% lower in April compared with the same month in 2019.
The city’s lodging business has been squeezed by crime and other quality-of-life issues that have kept many convention bookers away. Tech companies’ embrace of remote work also undercuts business travel to the city and hotel activity.
Now, a growing number of San Francisco hoteliers are signaling they may be ready to give up. In recent months, the owner of the city’s Huntington Hotel sold the property after facing foreclosure and the Yotel San Francisco hotel sold in a foreclosure auction. Club Quarters San Francisco, which has been in default on its loan since 2020, may also be headed to foreclosure, according to data company Trepp.
It’s a symptom of ill health. But as a sign of a terminal illness, the city’s largest mall is going bankrupt and will be turned back over to the lenders.
The owners of Westfield Mall in downtown San Francisco have stopped making payments on a $558 million loan. The mall will be turned over to a receivership later this month. And Nordstrom’s Department Store will close its two downtown locations including the one in Westfield
Westfield’s pullout piles on to the economic turmoil battering the area around Powell Street. Park Hotels & Resorts stopped payments on a $725 million mortgage tied to the nearby Hilton Union Square and Parc 55 hotels, two of the largest in the city, and plans to surrender them as well. Next to Westfield mall, Old Navy is also closing in a few weeks and the April fatal shooting of Banko Brown by a Walgreens security guard on the same block underscored the crime and public safety challenges in the area.
Last month, Westfield blamed “unsafe conditions” and “lack of enforcement against rampant criminal activity” in part for Nordstrom’s departure from the mall.
Foot traffic at Westfield was down 42%, which probably explains why other companies are leaving the mall. Century Theaters’ 52,000-square-foot lease expires in September and H&M’s 25,289-square-foot lease expires in January 2024. They aren’t expected to stick around for the demolition.
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Tine Skov and her boyfriend, tourists from Denmark, had visited Chicago and Philadephia before arriving in San Francisco. They were surprised by the lack of people on the streets. “There’s nobody here,” she said. “ San Francisco is definitely not what it was before COVID.”
“There are a lot of expensive shops but there’s nobody in them,” she said. “I love the city. I would come back but hope it’s livelier,” she said.
Just how “lively” can a graveyard get?
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