Cinemark to close movie theater in S.F. Westfield mall months before lease expires
People take the escalator in Westfield Mall in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Westfield Mall is giving up its San Francisco mall to lenders. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle
Cinemark plans to shutter its theater in San Francisco’s beleaguered Westfield mall this week, making it the latest Bay Area movie house to go dark.
In an email to The Chronicle, a Cinemark representative confirmed that the company has decided to permanently close the Century San Francisco Centre 9 and XD theater months before the conclusion of its lease term “following a comprehensive review of local business conditions.”
The 52,000-square-foot movie theater’s lease was set to expire in September.
According to Cinemark’s website, there are no movie showings scheduled in its theater after a 1:45 p.m. showing of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” on Thursday, June 15.
The exterior of Westfield San Francisco Centre where Nordstrom is located. Nordstrom announced it will not be renewing its leases with Westfield San Francisco Centre. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle
On Monday, June 12, Westfield revealed it is giving up its namesake mall at San Francisco Centre in the wake of Nordstrom’s planned closure and no longer making payments on its nearly $560 million loan, surrendering the city’s biggest shopping center to its lender. The company said that “challenging operating conditions” in downtown San Francisco had led to declining sales and foot traffic.
Nordstrom, which occupies 312,000 square feet in the mall, is closing in August after 35 years when its lease expires. The mall — which includes 1.2 million square feet of retail space and 300,000 square feet of offices — will be only 55% leased after Nordstrom’s departure, far below other U.S. Westfield malls that are, on average, 93% leased.
Cinemark’s announcement comes two years after the permanent closure of its CineArts Empire theater in San Francisco’s West Portal neighborhood. In 2020, the movie chain shut down its Century Cinema in Corte Madera.
Nordstrom inside Westfield Mall in San Francisco is closing in August. Westfield Mall is giving up its San Francisco mall to lenders. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle
Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema, San Francisco’s hub for first-run art house movies for more than a quarter of a century, ceased operations in early 2022.
CGV San Francisco permanently closed its 14-screen theater on the corner of Van Ness Avenue and O’Farrell Street in February, the same month the Regal UA Berkeley shut down as part of a financial restructuring by Regal Cinemas parent company Cineworld, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2022.
Meanwhile, the future of the Castro Theatre is caught up in red tape. Another Planet Entertainment took over management of the theater in January 2022 with hopes of diversifying entertainment at the 100-year-old venue with concerts and comedy shows but has continued to program film festivals and one-off screenings as it awaits permission to renovate the theater.
Source: SF Chronicle Datebook
