Twitter rent update: KKR drops Oakland suit 

New York-based investor KKR and Co. has abandoned its lawsuit alleging over $1 million in unpaid rent from Twitter for space the social media company rented in the downtown Oakland office building it co-owns with TMG.

KKR filed the suit in March, alleging four months of unpaid rent on 1330 Broadway beginning shortly after Elon Musk took the reins at Twitter and began slashing costs, office space and employee numbers. KKR requested a dismissal in May, but it was only recently reported by the San Francisco Business Times. KKR did not reply to requests for comment from the SFBT over why it had given up the suit. TMG declined to comment for the story.

The case is the second Twitter back rent suit dismissed this year. In April, Columbia Property Trust also dropped its suit over nearly $140,000 in back rent for offices Twitter had rented at 650 California Street in San Francisco. Columbia Property Trust also did not reply to a request for comment. 

The biggest Bay Area back rent case against Twitter is still moving forward. That suit from Shorenstein Properties is on Twitter’s main headquarters at 1355 Market Street, better known as the Twitter building. In January, it filed for nearly $7 million in back rent. That case remains active, according to the SFBT, and the amount owed continued to increase over the year. 

The case was filed  just as Shorenstein faced a deadline on a $400M loan on the building, Shorenstein paid off the loan, one of the few cases this year where the owner managed to meet its financial responsibilities rather than walking away. 

Twitter also faces numerous backrent lawsuits from outside the Bay Area, from Boston to London. It is also being sued by service providers ranging from PR companies to advisory firms to project management companies for other unpaid bills. 

— Emily Landes 

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