When news broke last week that Seven Equity Group had emerged as the next buyer to try to acquire the San Francisco Centre Mall, few in the city’s close-knit real estate world knew of the firm.
Name recognition doesn’t always equate to credibility or capability, but the lack of a public profile fueled concern about how a little-known entity would pay for and execute a deal of that size. The vacant 1.2 million-square-feet property is valued at around $130 million, sources say, and any turnaround would require hundreds of millions more in redevelopment, marketing, and leasing costs.
The previous buyer, a pair of local developers, walked away from the mall in June after months of negotiations with the current owners — a collection of bondholders — hit an impasse.
Since January 2025, Seven Equity has acquired six distressed office buildings near the mall using a similar formula and network of investors, according to property records reviewed by The Standard.
Its three most recent transactions, which span four buildings on Mission and Howard streets, were financed in part with loans provided by Genesis Global, a private New York lender run by individuals with family ties (opens in new tab) to Sander Gerber, a conservative advocate (opens in new tab) and cofounder of the multinational hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital.
In each of those deals, a minority stake is held by an entity tied to Nakash Holdings, the family’s investment firm behind the Jordache denim brand that has now expanded into a conglomerate. That partnership between Seven Equity and Nakash (at least in San Francisco) extends back 10 years, according to public documents. A Nakash entity also has a minority stake connected to Seven Equity’s 2016 purchase of an office building at 420 Taylor St.
Taken together, the signatories on these documents suggest that Seven Equity founder Ray Falack has a close circle of deep-pocketed partners and investors to draw on.
Falack and Ohel Yaacob declined to comment.
Finalizing the purchase of the vacant downtown mall in San Francisco would expand Seven Equity’s holdings in the city to eight properties. It is not clear if Nakash Holdings or Genesis will be involved in that deal. Neither firm responded to requests for comment.
Sources familiar with Seven Equity’s bid on the downtown mall said the firm intends to keep retail as a key component while developing a distinct “family entertainment” element.
While retail in Union Square and offices closer to the city’s waterfront have been steadily recovering occupancy and investment since the pandemic, Mid-Market, where Falack’s firm has been accumulating real estate, has had more of an uneven path.
The front doors of the mall were boarded up this year. | Source: Getty Images / Smith Collection / Gado
The vacant mall has attracted signs of neglect that have been pervasive in the area since the pandemic, including empty storefronts marred by graffiti and scenes of public drug usage.
Sources familiar with the firm’s deals say Seven Equity has amassed its San Francisco portfolio by purchasing buildings out of receivership or at fire-sale prices from sellers anxious to exit the market. With a lower cost basis than the previous owners, the firm is said to be positioning some office space at rates that undercut the local market.
For example, Seven Equity bought 731 Market St. for about a quarter of what the former owner, Jamestown, paid a decade earlier. With the savings on the cost of acquiring the property, a raft of tenant improvements are on the horizon: City permits show plans for $1.2 million worth of work, including new partitions, lighting, and finishes.
Seven Equity acquired 420 Taylor a decade ago. The four-story building is mostly occupied by Nextdoor, which has a lease ending in 2029, according to CoStar. Roughly a third of that space is available for sublease.
While Seven Equity’s San Francisco holdings are primarily office space, it has some notable retail storefronts, including the site of a former CVS at 731 Market St. (opens in new tab) and a former Denny’s at 818 Mission St.
Seven Equity bought 814 and 818 Mission St. in September for roughly $15.5 million. | Source: Morgan Ellis/The Standard
San Francisco in the last two years has become a magnet for out-of-state real estate investors looking to gain exposure in a city that is perceived to be on the rise because of the AI boom and rent growth. A Texas investor last year snapped up properties in Union Square; the duo behind Project Uris did the same.
Two of the city’s most recognizable properties, the Transamerica Pyramid and Ghirardelli Square, were sold to foreign investors who had never before invested in San Francisco.