Meta Platforms to unload 435K sf of offices in San Francisco

Sublease in SoMa latest by tech giant to “recalibrate” its footprint worldwide

Mark Zuckerberg and 181 Fremont Street, San Francisco
Mark Zuckerberg and 181 Fremont Street, San Francisco (Getty, Wikipedia)

Meta Platforms, parent of Facebook and Instagram, is shedding 435,000 square feet of offices in Downtown San Francisco following layoffs and a shift to remote work.

The Meno Park-based social media company will put the space on the market for sublease starting June 1 at a mixed-use high-rise occupied by Instagram workers at 181 Fremont Street in SoMa’s Transbay District, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The 56-story building, which has luxe condominiums on the top floors, is owned by Jay Paul Company, based in the city. Asking office rents were not disclosed.

The tech giant leased the offices after the $500 million building was completed in 2018. Its lease ends in March 2031. The listing, held by JLL, is the largest single available sublease in the city.

“The future of work is here and we’re embracing it at Meta,” a spokesperson told the Business Times.

The sublease comes as no surprise. Meta executives, in an effort to “recalibrate” its offices, said last fall the company would spend $3 billion to end office leases worldwide. The cost-cutting measures follow a drumming on Wall Street and plans to lay off 11,000 workers.

In recent months, Meta has pulled out of existing offices or pending deals in Silicon Valley and in New York.

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Last month, it appeared ready to unload another 544,000 square feet of offices in the Bay Area, including 113,500 square feet listed at 6900 Dumbarton Circle in Fremont for sublease.

In October, the company terminated its 457,000-square-foot lease for a two-building office complex at 391 and 401 San Antonio Road in Mountain View, which was to have lasted through 2034.

In New York, it exited 200,000 square feet at 225 Park Avenue in Manhattan, paused plans to build out at 30 and 55 Hudson Yards, where it leased more than 1.5 million square feet before the pandemic, and reversed plans on a 300,000-square-foot expansion at 770 Broadway.

In San Francisco, Meta also leases the entire 43-story Park Tower at 250 Howard Street, a block from the offices being vacated at 181 Fremont. The company’s lease for 755,000 square feet there began just before the pandemic, and it will hold onto the office, a spokesperson said.

Meta is just the latest tech firm to unload offices Downtown, where the vacancy rate now exceeds 25 percent. This month, DocuSign announced it would jettison 57,000 square feet from its headquarters at 221 Main Street.

— Dana Bartholomew

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