“For more than 20 years, Westfield has proudly and successfully operated San Francisco Centre, investing significantly over that time in the vitality of the property. Given the challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco, which have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic, we have made the difficult decision to begin the process to transfer management of the shopping center to our lender to allow them to appoint a receiver to operate the property going forward,” the company said.

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.

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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 San Francisco 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.

Exit question: Vacant skyscrapers, empty trains: can San Francisco once again reinvent itself?

Detroit could not be reached for comment.