Slack lists more than 200,000 sf of SF office space for sublease

Company to focus on “digital first” work strategy

Stewart Butterfield, ceo & co-founder, Slack (Slack, Shorenstein, Slack Technologies, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Stewart Butterfield, ceo & co-founder, Slack (Slack, Shorenstein, Slack Technologies, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Slack put more than 200,000 square feet of San Francisco office space on the market for sublease, months after its CEO said efforts to force employees to stop working from home are “doomed.”

The workplace messaging software company, which moved into the Bechtel Building at 45 Fremont Street in 2019, signed what was the city’s third-largest lease that year, , according to the San Francisco Business Times. After being bought by Salesforce, Slack listed all the 208,460 square feet it leased in the 34-story building for sublease.

The company will keep its headquarters at 500 Howard Street, but will remain “digital first,” a spokesperson told the outlet.

“When I see headlines about CEOs trying to lure employees back to the office, I feel like it’s probably a doomed approach,” Slack CEO and co-founder Stewart Butterfield told the Washington Post in December. “Work is no longer a place you go. It’s something you do.”

The space, which is spread across 13 floors, is being marketed as a flexible large block opportunity by real estate service firm CBRE. The space includes multiple conference rooms, phone rooms, a kitchen and a lounge.

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Other tenants of the Bechtel Building include Wells Fargo Bank, Sentry and Gensler. Slack occupies more space than any other tenant and has a lease through 2030.

Demand for San Francisco office space stands at about 5.5 million square feet, which is “lower than historic averages,” said Alexander Quinn, JLL’s director of research for Northern California.

Bucking the trend, Sephora last month inked a deal to take 289,000 square feet that was listed for sublease at 350 Mission Street.

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[SFBT] — Victoria Pruitt