Couchbase to move Silicon Valley headquarters with long-term lease

Couchbase is moving its Silicon Valley headquarters to Federal Realty Investment Trust’s One Santana West development in San Jose, taking nearly 24,000 square feet on the ground floor of the eight-story office building. 

The lease is scheduled to begin in February next year and last for 91 months, or about seven and a half years, according to Investing.com, which cited Securities and Exchange Commission filings from the publicly traded company. There is also an option for a seven-year extension. 

The annual minimum rent was set at about $850,000 for the first full lease year, or about $3 per square foot per month, and goes up to $1.2 million the following year, or a little over $4 per square foot, with 3 percent annual increases thereafter. Federal will also contribute a tenant improvement allowance of around $4 million, or about $167 per square foot, to finish out the space, according to the filings.

The cloud database platform has been located at 3250 Olcott Street in Santa Clara since 2018. The refurbished 1982-built three-story office building has about 48,000 square feet, though it is unclear how much of that space Couchbase occupies. 

A company representative declined to comment on whether or not the move represented a downsize or what its remote work policies are. Fidelma Butler, chief people officer at Couchbase, said in a statement that One Santana West’s “world-class location meets the inflection point we are on as a company, and we’re excited to continue on our growth trajectory in our new headquarters.”

The company’s new home will be next to the development’s fitness center, golf simulator and cafe, and is located in the mixed-use Santana Row development. Butler cited the “walkable, neighborhood-like community, in a modern office space providing employees an efficient and attractive place to work,” as one of the company’s key considerations for the move. 

“Santana West delivers on every reason to want to come into the office,” said Jan Sweetnam, chief investment officer of Federal Realty, in a statement.

Earlier this year, accounting firm PwC took about 140,000 square feet in the building, with a planned move in 2026. With the Couchbase lease, the 376,000-square-foot building is now more than 50 percent leased. 

In addition to the three floors taken by PwC, Acrisure announced that it would take half a floor, or nearly 30,000 square feet, at the end of last year. The fintech company plans to move in this spring. 

Newmark Knight Frank is the leasing agency for the project. 

The greater Santana Row development has more than 1 million square feet of offices, 100 shops and restaurants, more than 800 homes and a boutique hotel.

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