Locals Want Shuttered San Francisco Mall to Become a Casino or Sphere

• The San Francisco Centre mall is closing for good on Monday.
• A poll indicates some residents would like to see the property turned into a casino or Sphere.
• Most want it converted to an entertainment or housing.

The San Francisco Centre mall, previously that city’s largest shopping venue, is closing permanently on Monday and area residents have some ideas about what the property’s future should hold. Perhaps surprisingly, some say a casino or another iteration of the Las Vegas Sphere are desirable.

To be sure, a recent poll on the issue conducted by The San Francisco Chronicle indicates 40% of those queried would like to see the shuttered shopping property turned into an entertainment venue while 30% say it should be converted into housing — a practical idea given the city’s housing needs.

Some respondents said housing should be the priority while others said the property could be used as a new campus for San Francisco State University. The option of turning the once iconic mall into pickleball courts finished last, according to the newspaper.

San Francisco Centre is closing due to years of declining foot traffic, resulting in the loss of several marquee tenants.

A San Francisco Sphere?

Sphere Entertainment, the operator of the Las Vegas Sphere, is in expansion mode. It recently announced a plan to bring a “mini Sphere” to the area near MGM National Harbor in Maryland and in 2024, the company unveiled a pitch for a similar structure in Abu Dhabi.

There are other factors that may signal a Sphere in San Francisco is a far-flung concept. First, some cities are resistant to Sphere expansion overtures, declining to add the immersive entertainment venue due to lighting and noise issues.

Second, not only could San Francisco fall into the camp, but the city is also notoriously difficult in which to get approvals for new construction.

San Francisco Casino Would Be Attractive, But…

The idea of a casino in San Francisco could be intriguing from a revenue-generating standpoint. For example, Wynn Resorts’ Encore Boston Harbor and MGM Resorts International’s National Harbor — two gaming venues located near major urban areas — are two of the highest-grossing regional casinos in the US.

Still, it’d be a matter of getting city officials and residents on board with the idea and that’s not an easy task. San Francisco isn’t known as a gaming mecca, though there was some momentum in the late 1980s to turn Alcatraz Island into a gaming venue, but that idea didn’t gain enough support because the National Parks Service, which maintains the property, said it’d be a bad look to have a casino on federally maintained land.

All forms of gaming expansion in California run through the state’s tribal casino operators, meaning that if a casino comes to life in San Francisco, it’d be controlled by one of those entities.