Eureka's Struggling Bayshore Mall Heads to Courthouse Auction

Nearly $39 million in unpaid debt has pushed Bayshore Mall onto the auction block, with a trustee sale scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 17 at the front entrance of the Humboldt County Courthouse.

The sale covers the mall's two parcels at 3300 and 3450 Broadway Street, held by Bay Shore, LP, a Delaware entity whose accumulated debt Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery put at exactly $38,945,221.94. Slattery described the mall as "currently without a proper owner," saying it is being managed on behalf of the banks holding that debt. Humboldt County Clerk/Recorder and Registrar of Voters Juan Cervantes confirmed a notice of trustee sale has been filed, with Assured Lenders Services listed as the trustee.

At a courthouse-step auction, liens are paid in order of seniority, and any encumbrances that survive the sale travel with the deed to its new holder. On a nearly 40-year-old enclosed mall site, that means whoever wins on April 17 immediately inherits both a layered debt structure and the environmental due diligence obligations typical of aging commercial properties, including a building already known for roof leaks that tenants say have driven businesses out.

The physical condition mirrors the financial one. Bayshore's food court operates with a single restaurant. Nearly two dozen storefronts sit empty. The California DMV, which once gave the mall a reliable stream of daily foot traffic, closed its office there in May 2025. About 45 tenants remain, anchored by Kohl's and Walmart, with TJ Maxx and ULTA Beauty among the other national retailers still operating.

Those tenants face real exposure in an ownership change. Retail leases typically include co-tenancy clauses and ownership-transfer provisions that can give tenants grounds to renegotiate or exit; anyone operating on a short-term or month-to-month basis has the narrowest buffer once a new deed records.

The city of Eureka is not without leverage. Code enforcement authority, redevelopment incentive packages, and zoning conditions can shape what the next owner is permitted or pressured to build on the Broadway footprint. Four Cal Poly Humboldt seniors completed a capstone project last year to "re-envision the Bayshore Mall," working with Eureka Development Services, and community pressure for mixed-use redevelopment or workforce housing at the site has grown as vacancy has worsened.

Bayshore opened as the dominant retail draw for the entire North Coast, the only enclosed regional mall within 155 miles, anchored by Mervyn's, JCPenney, and Gottschalks. All three are long gone. SFGate recently held the property up as a metaphor for regional economic decline. Now a Delaware LP's debt stack approaching $40 million has moved the question of Bayshore's future from planning workshops to courthouse steps.

The trustee sale notice on file with Humboldt County includes minimum bid and lien disclosures. The auction is open to the public.