Mall’s New Owner May Raze Building

The new owner of the Esplanade mall is considering razing the building and replacing it with a number of “big box” stores, a property management executive confirmed Thursday.

“The market will dictate whether we tear it down or remodel,” said Scott McPherson, vice president and partner of San Francisco-based M&H; Property Management. “It can’t remain as it is now.”

Other options include remodeling or rebuilding the mall, McPherson said in a telephone interview from his San Diego office. But, he added, it is still early in the planning process and the company has had only an initial meeting with city officials.

M&H; specializes in remodeling neighborhood shopping centers anchored by groceries and drugstores, but also manages malls such as Westgate in San Jose, McPherson said.

The management company bought the main portion of the mall at the beginning of the year from its previous owners, the Scheidt family of San Francisco.

M&H; is still negotiating with Sears to buy its vacant property. Robinsons-May owns the third portion of the mall, which it vacated at the end of last year.