Getaround Abandons SF Headquarters, Pays $3.6M to End Lease

Getaround has paid $3.6 million to break the lease on its 54,400-square-foot headquarters in San Francisco after shifting to fully remote work last fall.

The peer-to-peer car sharing service bought out its lease this month for its five-story hub at 55 Green Street, in the Northern Waterfront, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Getaround stopped paying rent in October on its headquarters and moved to terminate its 10-year lease, which ran through 2029, according to a regulatory filing.

To get out of the lease, the firm paid $3.6 million to San Francisco-based Brick & Timber Collective as part of a negotiated settlement, a company spokesperson told the Chronicle.

Getaround said in its filing that it “does not rely on the headquarters facility for any material part of its operations” after it shifted to a “remote first” work model during the pandemic.

The unidentified spokesperson said the company won’t seek more offices for the “foreseeable future.” Getaround operates a small office in Oakland, plus offices in Paris and Oslo.

Last spring, the firm laid off 10 percent of its workers to position itself for long-term growth and “sustainable profitability” during worsening economic conditions.

Getaround’s cessation of its headquarters lease follows similar moves by Dropbox and other tech firms, which during the pandemic walked away from their office command centers — forever.

Other firms that have shifted to remote work have cut down the size of their office hubs.

The downsizing has left a giant hole in the San Francisco office market, which reached a record vacancy rate of 35.9 percent last month.

The crush of empty offices has hurt landlords facing falling rents, rising interest rates and pending deadlines to pay off mortgages. Building owners, after defaulting on loans, have forsaken properties and handed the keys over to lenders.

Getaround was the sole tenant at 55 Green, where it had leased four floors overlooking the bay. The building serves as collateral for a $36 million loan, according to Trepp, presumably to Brick & Timber Collective.

— Dana Bartholomew