Predictably, Someone Wants to Turn Part of SF’s Downtown Mall Into an AI Data Center

In what may be the least surprising SF real estate development of the year, someone inquired in June about permits for an AI data center at the former Bloomingdale s site at Westfield Centre mall, a month after a local parody blog imagined a similar fate.The saga of San Francisco s beleaguered Westfield Centre mall continues as downtown real estate remains a hot commodity amid the AI boom. As the Chronicle reports, Maryland-based KG Growth Partners contacted the Department of Building Inspection in June on behalf of a prospective buyer, asking about permits for an AI data center at the former Bloomingdale s site at 845 Market Street. No application has reportedly been filed for the 350,000-square-foot space.KG CEO Jared Krieger told the Chronicle the proposal would keep the ground floor open to the public, with technical operations upstairs and in back-of-house spaces. He described the concept as an AI-controlled living space developed with an unnamed AI lab, potentially including a