Social media company LinkedIn put the top floors of its glass-wrapped San Francisco skyscraper in SoMa on the sublease market, according to a marketing brochure for the property.
The brochure shows that 63,000 square feet across five floors of the 26-story building at 222 Second St. are available through December 2027. It touts the property’s unobstructed views, multiple kitchens and wellness rooms.
The company joins a host of major tech employers in San Francisco offering up underused space on the sublease market amid the shift to hybrid work.
Silicon Valley Bank is one of the potential tenants in conversations about taking space in the building, real estate sources said. The bank, which was purchased by First Citizens Bank after its closure in March, currently rents space nearby at 505 Howard St.
Sources said the space has been quietly marketed for some time, and additional space is also being made available at the property. LinkedIn plans to continue to occupy the bottom floors of the skyscraper. Although LinkedIn is headquartered in Sunnyvale, the company has long had a significant presence in San Francisco.
During the pandemic, LinkedIn instituted a flexible work policy that allows employees to work from anywhere.
LinkedIn declined to comment on its real estate moves.
LinkedIn employees first started occupying the space in 2016 near the peak of the social media boom. The building includes flourishes typical of the era, like themed floors, a fitness center and a cafeteria offering free food daily.
LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, announced it was leasing the entirety of the 450,000-square-foot property back in 2014 prior to the building’s completion by developer Tishman Speyer. The idea was to consolidate the entirety of LinkedIn’s San Francisco workforce in one place. At the time, the lease was among the largest in the city’s history.
The skyscraper is known from the ground level for a huge open lobby space open to the public that includes long wooden tables and a cafe.
Times have changed, and rather than the continual spate of massive office leases seen during the boom times, the recent news about San Francisco's commercial real estate situation has been relatively grim.
The vacancy rate in San Francisco has reached a record-breaking 34%, according to a report from real estate firm CBRE, and most experts expect the number to rise even further as leases continue to expire and some companies downsize their space in line with hybrid work trends.
Currently, CBRE reports nearly 30 million square feet of office space is vacant in the city. For perspective, that’s the equivalent of 21 empty Salesforce Towers.
On a positive note, CBRE logged some 5.2 million square feet of tenant demand in the market, the highest number since the start of 2020, driven mainly by AI and tech companies.