San Francisco Mall Eyed for Transformation into AI Data Center
A financial advisory firm has inquired about converting a portion of the shuttered San Francisco Centre mall into a facility for artificial intelligence operations.
Months after its closure, San Francisco’s Centre mall is being considered for a significant repurposing: a massive AI data center. KG Growth Partners, a financial advisory firm based in Maryland, has reportedly inquired with the city about a permit for such a facility.
The firm is working with an unnamed partner interested in utilizing the 350,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Bloomingdale's within the mall, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. This proposal emerges as San Francisco grapples with its own measures regarding data centers. Last week, Mayor Daniel Lurie enacted a 45-day moratorium on the approval of new data centers, tasking the San Francisco Planning Department with studying their impact.
San Francisco Centre mall ceased operations in January 2026, facing a high vacancy rate and the departures of major retailers like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s in 2025. KG’s CEO Jared Kreiger indicated that the plan involves keeping the mall's ground floors active and open, while dedicating upper floors to technical functions. Kreiger stated that the reuse of the building for a mixed public and technical program would be more beneficial to the area than leaving it vacant.
According to Kreiger, the proposed project would partner with a "known AI Lab" to develop what he described as an "AI-controlled living space." He further elaborated that the facility’s design could utilize resources such as dedicating water to a rooftop garden, with produce intended for donation to a nonprofit addressing food insecurity for homeless shelters.
While KG Growth Partners has not disclosed its client, the Chronicle reported last month that commercial real estate firm B3 Investors was in discussions to purchase the Bloomingdale's section and had also placed a bid for the remainder of the mall. Earlier in 2026, Presidio Bay Ventures and Prado Group acquired the mall with intentions to convert it to retail and commercial space, but they withdrew from the deal in July following unsuccessful ground lease negotiations.
Previous proposals for the vacant mall site included ideas from former Mayor London Breed to transform it into a soccer stadium, and more recently, a plan from Urban Land Development and TMG Partners to create a multi-level sports complex with a private club and basketball academy.