The great mall overhaul

Before the pandemic, developers were looking at mall sites for new housing, offices and transformed retail spaces. The health crisis has put some projects on hold and forced others to scale back. Here’s where things stand at seven regional shopping centers.

STONESTOWN GALLERIA, 3251 20TH AVE., SAN FRANCISCO

A 40-acre site with an existing 10-acre mall and 30 acres being considered for new development. Anchor tenants include Target, which is undergoing expansion, and a newly opened Whole Foods. New tenants such as Sports Basement, Carbon Health and Xfinity are part of the mall’s 100-plus storefronts. A $149 million renovation is under way at the mall. And discussion on creating a mix of housing, an outdoor retail environment and neighborhood services is also ongoing, including street improvements that connect the mall and the surrounding community.

Owner/developer: Brookfield Properties, New York

Status: Specific plans for the future mixed-use project have not been drawn up and nothing has been submitted to the city of San Francisco. Brookfield said it will work with the community to hone a vision for the site and seek approvals over the next three years.

WESTLAKE SHOPPING CENTER, 303 LAKE MERCED BLVD., DALY CITY

Westlake is a 685,000-square-foot shopping center. Tenants include Trader Joe’s, Walgreens, Target and Burlington Coat Factory. Kimco plans to add 179 apartments above 34,000 square feet of new retail. The six-story building would replace an existing two-story, 55,630-square-foot commercial building adjacent to Park Plaza Drive. Owner/developer: Kimco Realty, Jericho, N.Y.

Status: The development plan was approved in September 2018. Prior to the pandemic, Kimco was analyzing the economics of the project and did not say when it planned to start with new construction. The company declined to provide an update on the project to The Chronicle.

FREMONT HUB, 4020 FREMONT BLVD., FREMONT

The 504,000-square-foot outdoor shopping mall is anchored by longtime tenants Ross, Target and Marshalls, and new tenant Old Navy. The owner, Kimco Realty, filed an application to build 303 apartments over 30,000 square feet of retail and two levels of underground parking, on a portion of the mall’s parking lot that would entail demolishing an existing building.

Owner/developer: Kimco Realty

Status: Redevelopment proposed but not approved. Fremont city officials met with Kimco last fall to discuss some site-planning ideas, but city officials said they have not received any formal resubmittals on the project. Kimco declined to provide an update.

HILLTOP BY THE BAY, 2200 HILLTOP MALL ROAD, RICHMOND

In addition to the Shops at Hilltop, as the current mall is known, a redevelopment plan included a hotel, 3,500-plus residential units and office space on the 77-acre site. Owner/developer: LBG Real Estate Companies, Newport Beach (Orange County) Status: Plans for redevelopment changed last summer. Some construction was under way, but the health crisis upended the mall developer’s plans and LBG is now listing the site for sale. It marketed the property as a biotech hub at one point.

VALLCO TOWN CENTER, 10123 N. WOLFE ROAD, CUPERTINO

This major overhaul on the site of a traditional mall has 2,402 units of housing, 50% of which is affordable. Parts of the mall have been demolished and plans call for building retail and entertainment on 400,000 square feet of space, and reserve 1.8 million square feet for offices.

Owner/developer: Sand Hill Property, Palo Alto

Status: Construction under way.

SOUTH SHORE CENTER, 523 MULBERRY ST., ALAMEDA

Former owner Jamestown proposed 1,215 apartments at the 45-acre site. Stores and other businesses at the center would remain there, with the earliest leases coming up in 2025 and full renovations estimated to be completed by 2045, but the company sold the mall to new owners in early 2020.

Owner/developer: Merlone Geier Partners, San Francisco

Status: The new owners will hold a series of meetings with the community to talk about what kinds of changes they’d like to see at the shopping center.

NEWPARK MALL PLACE, 2086 NEWPARK MALL, NEWARK

This million-square-foot shopping center on a 73-acre site has 100-plus stores and restaurants. Plans include adding 1,519 housing units, redeveloping a former Sears space for multiple new tenants, and finding replacements for former mall anchors JCPenney and Burlington Coat Factory.

Owner/developer: Brookfield Properties, New York

Status: Redevelopment plan approved by the Newark City Council in 2018. First phase of multiphase development expected to break ground in 2021.