Salesforce To Sublet Over 10% Of Office Space At San Francisco HQ

USA – Salesforce, which had reduced its office footprint after announcing in January 2023 that it’s laying off 10 percent of its global labour force, plans to further reduce its office space at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, reported The Real Deal on Tuesday morning (7 March, SGT).

It has been known that the company has engaged CBRE to sublet six office floors at the 61-storey 415 Mission Street. The six levels collectively measure 125,000 sq ft, which makes up 14 percent of the 875,000 sq ft it is occupying at the office building.

Also known as the Salesforce Tower, 415 Mission Street contains 1.41 million sq ft of leasable office space and it’s fully let. The building is owned by Boston Properties.

With the 125,000 sq ft downsizing at its corporate headquarters, Salesforce is relinquishing a total of over 1 million sq ft in San Francisco since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it expects to pay between US$450 million and US$650 million in penalties due to the office space reduction.

Meanwhile, workplace messaging software firm Slack announced in February that it would relocate from its 250,000 sq ft headquarters at 45 Fremont Street in South of Market (SoMa) to 415 Mission Street, but it refused to disclose how much office space it would occupy. Last month, the Salesforce-owned company listed 200,000 sq ft for sublease at 45 Fremont Street.

Last July, Salesforce put up for lease over 400,000 sq ft or half of the space at the 43-level Salesforce West tower at 50 Fremont Street. This represented its 3rd office space downsizing since the onset of the pandemic.

According to data from CBRE, the office vacancy level in San Francisco has almost reached 28 percent. As a result, real estate consultancy called the city as the emptiest downtown in the US.