AiNET had already converted a former Boscov’s department store at Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, Maryland, into its CyberNAP data center when, in June 2013, it was reported to be interested in buying the rest of the mall. The larger idea was to turn more than 1.5 million square feet into data-center space. The completed Boscov’s conversion is documented; a conversion of the entire mall is not.
What AiNET proposed in 2013
A June 13, 2013 report said AiNET was considering purchasing the remaining portions of Marley Station Mall and expanding beyond the former Boscov’s building it had already converted. The proposed redevelopment would reuse the mall’s existing structures for data-center, cybersecurity, carrier and related infrastructure uses, with a reported total of more than 1.5 million square feet of data-center space. AiNET CEO Deepak Jain described the company as “working in that direction.” That was an expression of interest, not evidence of a completed purchase, final approval or construction schedule. Data Center Knowledge reported the proposal on June 13, 2013.
The plan also contemplated working with existing merchants on a transition. Marley Station was not simply an empty shell: stores were still operating, and the contemporaneous report said mall management disputed that a closure or sale was imminent.
What had already become CyberNAP
The established project was the conversion of the former Boscov’s department-store building, not the whole shopping mall. The 2013 report described the facility as about 300,000 square feet and said AiNET projected capacity for as many as 10,000 server cabinets. That is a reported cabinet-capacity claim, not a count of installed cabinets or individual servers.
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AiNET’s current CyberNAP page continues to describe a 300,000-square-foot data center in Glen Burnie on a 15-acre site. The company markets the facility for colocation, carrier access and secure infrastructure, and says it is less than 10 miles from Fort George G. Meade and Cyber Command. Its page also makes claims about protected power, dual feeds and high-density cabinets; those are AiNET’s current facility descriptions, not independent engineering verification of what the 2013 whole-mall proposal could support.
Why Marley Station appealed to AiNET
Nearby federal and cybersecurity demand
AiNET pointed to the region’s government and defense activity, including the National Security Agency, U.S. Cyber Command and the Defense Information Systems Agency, as a potential source of demand. The company’s current CyberNAP materials continue to emphasize proximity to Fort Meade and Cyber Command. This was a cybersecurity, government, carrier and infrastructure pitch in 2013—not an AI-campus proposal retroactively framed in today’s terms.
A large existing building and a distressed retail property
A department store and mall offered substantial existing floor area, roads, parking and loading access. Reusing a shell can avoid some land acquisition and basic structural work, while a declining retail property may present an opportunity to put underused real estate to another use. The 2013 report said Marley Station was facing foreclosure after defaulting on a reported $115 million loan. That financial pressure did not establish that AiNET bought the property: a secondary historical summary of Marley Station records the manager’s position that the mall was not being closed or sold and was seeking to retain and attract tenants.
Why a mall is not automatically data-center-ready
Power is a site constraint, not a square-footage calculation
Retail electrical service cannot be assumed to support data-center loads. A serious feasibility review would need to establish available utility capacity, redundant feeds, substation and switchgear requirements, upgrade timelines, backup generation, fuel logistics and distribution redundancy. The 2013 coverage itself identified power as a decisive issue; it did not provide a utility commitment or interconnection study for the proposed whole-mall project.
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Cooling and building systems need redesign
Retail buildings generally are not designed around continuous server heat loads. A conversion may require substantial cooling equipment, heat-rejection space, electrical and mechanical plant, and new distribution routes. Floor loading, column spacing, roof capacity, floor-to-floor height and the ability to isolate secure data halls all matter. The 2013 report did not publish structural studies, cooling plans, construction budgets, water-demand estimates or a build schedule, so none can be inferred from the proposed square footage.
Leases, ownership and approvals can block a whole-site plan
Operating tenants, anchor-store ownership, lease rights, easements, parking and shared utilities can complicate control of a mall. AiNET reportedly anticipated working with merchants, but the published account does not establish that leases were terminated or renegotiated. A project would also have to address zoning and building-code compliance, generator and air-quality permits, noise limits, water use and emergency-service requirements.
Community effects are mixed
Reusing a distressed property could bring investment, infrastructure employment and tax revenue, but a data center also replaces public-facing retail and gathering space with a more secure, less accessible use. Generators, construction, electricity demand, cooling and water use can affect neighbors. The contemporaneous article made positive economic claims, but it did not provide a neutral employment study; a data center’s capital investment should not be treated as proof that it creates more jobs than the retail uses it replaces.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to assess a mall-to-data-center conversion
The key question is not whether a building is large. A developer or investor would need to establish that the site can deliver power, connectivity, cooling and legal control on workable terms.
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- Electrical capacity: Confirm utility availability, redundant feeds, substation proximity, upgrade costs and timing, and backup-power constraints.
- Fiber: Verify the number of carriers, physically diverse routes and entrances, and access to network hubs.
- Building fit: Check structural loads, column spacing, floor and roof capacity, loading access and space for electrical and mechanical equipment.
- Cooling: Assess water availability, dry- or water-based cooling options, heat rejection, noise and permitting limits.
- Real-estate control: Determine who owns anchors, common areas and outparcels, and review leases, easements, access and parking rights.
- Economics and approvals: Compare acquisition and retrofit costs with new construction, and account for utility work, permits, customer demand, schedule and residual property value.
A retrofit may offer an existing shell, large floor plates and established roads and parking. It may also require costly separation of shared systems and major electrical or mechanical work. New construction can be designed around redundancy from the outset but generally entails acquiring and developing a site. Neither route is inherently cheaper or faster without project-specific power, engineering, ownership and cost information.
Proposal and outcome are not the same thing
The evidence supports three distinct facts: AiNET converted the former Boscov’s building into CyberNAP; in 2013 it was reported to be interested in buying and converting the rest of Marley Station; and AiNET still describes CyberNAP as a 300,000-square-foot Glen Burnie facility. The available sources do not verify that AiNET acquired the remaining mall or that every mall building, storefront or common area became data-center space.
The proposal was an early example of the broader idea that a struggling retail property might be reused for digital infrastructure. Its lasting lesson is practical: a large existing building can be useful, but electricity, fiber, cooling, permitting and control of the property—not empty floor area alone—determine whether the conversion works.
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