In the 2010s, blue-chip tech firms like Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, Meta and Salesforce spent hundreds of millions of dollars opening glamorous, amenity-fi

Corporate retreat: Big Tech has slashed its office presence in San Francisco by half

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2024-04-28 02:00:04

In the 2010s, blue-chip tech firms like Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, Meta and Salesforce spent hundreds of millions of dollars opening glamorous, amenity-filled offices in downtown San Francisco, spurring a building boom that altered the city’s skyline.

After a global pandemic and a wholesale shift to hybrid work, those same firms have retreated en masse—leaving the city’s now hollowed-out downtown to pay the price.

By the end of 2019, the 20 biggest tech employers had leased more than 16 million square feet of space, nearly a quarter of the city’s total office stock. Now, those same companies are holding onto only 8.3 million square feet, according to data from real estate firm CBRE.

“Tech companies were the most important as it was related to growth, but they’re also the most responsible for the downsizing as well,” said Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Center.

What drove the city’s previous real estate boom has now busted. And there’s still no clear answer on what comes next.