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San Francisco Centre eyed for AI project as mall redevelopment faces hurdles

KG Growth Partners has discussed an AI-related reuse of part of the shuttered mall, but its unidentified client has yet to secure the property or seek permits.

NewsJaws DeskEditorial desk

Published 20 Oct 2026, 13:06 BST2 min read

Entrance to Westfield San Francisco Centre beside Powell station. — File photograph of the Westfield San Francisco Centre entrance from Powell station, taken in June 2019. Westfield San Francisco Centre entrance from Powell station, June 2019 — Pi.1415926535 (resized and converted to WebP). CC BY-SA 3.0.Image source Image licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

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KG Growth Partners is discussing an AI-related redevelopment of part of the shuttered San Francisco Centre mall in downtown San Francisco, according to reports published on 19 and 20 October. The proposal could put a large vacant retail property back into use, but the firm's unidentified client has not been confirmed as its buyer and no permit application has been filed.

Records obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle show that the Maryland-based firm asked city officials in June about data-center permitting for 845 Market Street. The address covers a 350,000-square-foot section of the mall formerly occupied by Bloomingdale's. KG chief executive Jared Krieger described the prospective client to the Chronicle as a technology company, without naming it.

What KG Growth Partners proposes for the former Bloomingdale's space

Krieger told the Chronicle that the conversion would keep the ground floor and other public-facing levels open, while placing technical uses on upper floors and in back-of-house space. He described an AI-controlled living space and a rooftop garden. In comments reported by the Guardian, he clarified that the concept does not include residences; he called it a community-based AI exhibit with culture, design, retail, sports and education spaces and a rooftop park.

Krieger said KG's projects were not conventional suburban server farms. He also characterized this proposal to the Guardian as an urban energy center that would recycle power and water. Those descriptions set out the developer's intentions; the precise technical form of the project has not been established.

Purchase, power and city rules remain hurdles

Krieger told the Guardian that KG had not applied for permits because it did not know whether its client had won the bid to purchase the property. The Chronicle identified completion of a purchase and the site's ability to draw sufficient electricity and other resources as further hurdles. The mall has been closed since January 2026, after store closures left it virtually empty, the Chronicle reported.

Mayor Daniel Lurie signed a 45-day moratorium on data-center development the previous week, the Guardian reported, giving San Francisco's planning department time to study the effects of such facilities on nearby communities. It was not immediately clear how the measure would apply to KG's proposal.

The future of the site matters to businesses around the closed mall. Helen Nasser, who owns nearby SF Deli & Wine, estimated to the Guardian that her business had fallen by at least 60% since the mall closed. Her account illustrates the local stakes, although the effect of KG's proposed use on neighboring businesses remains uncertain.