It\u2019s housing! It\u2019s a soccer stadium! It\u2019s a basketball academy! It\u2019s \u2026 a data center?\u00a0<\/p>\n
A technology company is interested in the downtown San Francisco Centre Mall as a site for a data center, according to the San Francisco Chronicle (opens in new tab)<\/a>. Development consultants KG Growth Partners confirmed to The Standard that it worked with the technology company to submit a bid for the entire mall, including the former Bloomingdale\u2019s.<\/p>\n But KG Growth Partners dispute the characterization of the proposal as a data center. \u201cThis is not a data center in the traditional sense,\u201d Jared Krieger, CEO of KG Growth Partners, told The Standard. \u201cIt\u2019s a new category: a regenerative urban energy center.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n If the project moves forward \u2014\u00a0which would require it to clear major hurdles, beginning with the selection of its bid by the mall\u2019s sellers \u2014 critics worry\u00a0it could be a departure from a vision for downtown that centers on revitalizing retail and public spaces, much of it focused on the blocks immediately surrounding the mall. That vision has been boosted by the mayor\u2019s office and the Downtown Development Corporation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Krieger said this company, which he declined to name, would aim to create more energy than it uses and support downtown activity. Only a third of the mall site would be allocated to the \u201cregenerative urban energy center.\u201d The other two-thirds would be dedicated to culture, retail, sports, wellness, design, and free education, he said, with six acres of green space atop the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe project gives downtown two things it needs: reliable, sustainable power for its future, and a large public destination in the heart of the city,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The mall\u2019s shuttered state hardly fits into that image, and the process of finding a new owner has been drawn out and frustrating for those who want to see Market Street revived. The mall closed at the beginning of this year after telling its last remaining tenants to leave<\/a> following years of departures, leaving a hollowed-out shell at the center of downtown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In July, Presidio Bay and Prado Group walked away<\/a> from plans to buy the mall. The seller received new bids during a round that ended last month, including plans for a basketball-centric athletic complex with a sports bar<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mayor Daniel Lurie last week signed a 45-day moratorium on data centers<\/a> being constructed in San Francisco, intended to give the Planning Department time to study the impacts of the facilities and develop regulations governing their construction. Emails obtained by The Standard indicate that the Planning Department is meeting this week with Supervisor Shamann Walton, who authored the moratorium, to discuss whether the department should rework the category it uses to classify data centers, which also includes other types of facilities<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In statements, speeches, and social media videos, Lurie has emphasized the need to bring people back downtown, a priority laid out in his \u201cHeart of the City\u201d directive last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The directive says signs of success downtown will include more hotel bookings, more San Franciscans living downtown, and increased transit use. City-backed initiatives have included programs to fill vacancies with small businesses<\/a>, privately funded grants to support large retailers moving in<\/a>, and infrastructure projects designed to improve and beautify corridors<\/a> that receive heavy foot traffic from conference-goers and tourists.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to see a strong vision for a mixed\u2011use development that is active, vibrant, and serves as a regional destination, one that advances our vision for a 24\/7 downtown,\u201d Anne Taupier, executive director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, told The Standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n Krieger said that under the technology company\u2019s plan for the mall, only a third of its space would be dedicated to hardware. The other two-thirds would be for public infrastructure, therefore fulfilling the mission of downtown\u2019s revival.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a reason for people to come downtown every day, not just a building they walk past,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The plan Krieger presented is a far cry from the data centers spanning more than 1 million square feet and accompanying substations that have popped up next to suburban and rural U.S. communities.<\/p>\n