It's an end of an era for the once-popular and iconic mall in downtown San Diego. Horton Plaza is being sold -- and is in escrow now.
NBC 7 confirmed Wednesday from multiple commercial real estate firms that Westfield is selling the shopping center that opened in 1985.
The buyer is Stockdale Capital, a commercial real estate firm based in Los Angeles. According to the company’s website, the firm owns a variety of properties in the southwest including medical and corporate plazas, hotels and apartments.
Horton Plaza was once considered the crown jewel of downtown. When it first opened, it was considered a landmark of urban design, according to The Los Angeles Times.
But now it’s more of an eyesore.
“It tripped me out, everything was shut down,” said shopper Anthony Payton.
Empty storefront litter the property. There are more homeless people there than shoppers.
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“They don’t call it Horton Plaza anymore, they call it 'Homeless Plaza,'” said Shokooh Farahani, the owner of Bandar, a restaurant across the street from the mall.
Farahani is one of many small business owners in the area who would like to see a change to the mall.
“It’s hard to go in there. It’s awful,” said Mary Pappas, the owner of Athens Market Taverna.
Pappas remembers when Horton Plaza was an asset to nearby businesses, but today she doesn’t have that same feeling.
“It needs to be torn apart and redone,” Pappas said.
Stockdale Capital has not confirmed the sale and has not elaborated on what their plans are once they buy the mall.
However multiple commercial real estate firms familiar with the transaction say Stockdale plans to turn Horton Plaza into a mix of retail and office space.
There are rumors the firm is actively trying to attract Silicon Valley tech companies to the site.
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