CIM Seeks Lease Tenants as Yelp Leaves Beleaguered Building

San Francisco’s 55 Hawthorne Street is headed for some more troubling times in the coming weeks.

Yelp’s lease for approximately 102,000 square feet expires July 31, setting the building up for a more than 80 percent vacancy rate amid landlord CIM Group’s ongoing loan issues related to the property, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

A $61.5 million loan backed by the nearly 142,300-square-foot Financial District building was transferred to special servicing this month as “imminent default” looms, according to documents filed with the lenders. Yelp occupies approximately 102,000 square feet.

With Yelp’s flight from its two and a half floors at 55 Hawthorne, the building likely won’t generate enough revenue to cover its debt service, according to David Putro, head of commercial real estate analytics for Morningstar. Terms of the $61.5 million loan tied the perceived health of the building to Yelp’s tenancy there.

If CIM defaults on the loan, its lenders could seek to foreclose on the Hawthorne property, or opt for a deed in lieu of foreclosure to recoup the debt. CIM itself put the building up for sale last spring, but couldn’t find a buyer. The Los Angeles-based firm acquired the 11-story building in 2016 for $123 million, or roughly $900 per square foot.

Yelp has been a tenant at 55 Hawthorne since 2014 but has worked to bring in sublease tenants into some of its space over the past six years including deals with NerdWallet, Motive and Anyscale. It remains unclear if any of the subletters will sign direct leases with CIM.

CIM is hoping to negotiate and close lease deals directly with Yelp’s subtenants. If Yelp leaves and its sublease tenants go along with it, the building’s occupancy rate would dip below 50 percent, according to a May 2025 report from Fitch cited by the Business Times. Only one renewal for 17,000 square feet with an unidentified tenant has been signed, though Motive remains at the building, placing the building’s occupancy at 12.8 percent. Other tenants at the building independently include automated beverage machine maker Botrista and freelance talent platform Instawork.

San Francisco’s office market recovery continues to languish, but the tech hub is no longer last in return-to-office mandates, meaning more companies could be searching for office space in the near future. — Chris Malone Méndez