Block Is Latest Defector From Downtown San Francisco, Giving Up 470K SF

1455 Market St. sidewalk view.
Hudson Pacific Properties acquired a remaining 45% stake in 1455 Market St. for $43.5M, an 80% discount from the last time it traded.

In yet another blow to San Francisco’s struggling office market, Block Inc. will not renew its 470K SF lease at 1455 Market St. as it moves to a largely remote work model, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The lease on the property is set to expire in September 2023.

The company will consolidate its remaining offices in an effort to reduce its overall real estate costs, retaining only two offices in San Francisco, a 52K SF space at 760 Market St., which came along with its purchase of  e-commerce company Afterpay, and 60K SF at 2101 Mission St.

Block will maintain a presence in the greater Bay Area, keeping its offices in Oakland's Uptown Station. The company is also planning to open another smaller office space in the South Bay in the latter half of 2023.  

Hudson Pacific Properties owns 1455 Market St., a 23-story, 1M SF property that houses Uber's corporate headquarters and sits in a district populated by tech companies. Block, then Square Inc., leased an extra 104K SF in the Market Street location in the summer of 2018, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times. Cushman & Wakefield handles leasing on the property.

San Francisco's office woes seem to only be deepening as the list of big-name tech companies vacating their offices grows longer.

Among the more recent examples are TaskRabbit’s departure in May and PayPal vacating its offices in April. Adding to the tension are economic factors such as inflation and the dramatic slide in crypto prices that precipitated Coinbase's Tuesday announcement that it would cut 1,100 jobs.

Meanwhile, the commercial real estate industry hopes that big tech companies will make a resurgence, filling the void in the San Francisco office market, which carries one of the highest vacancy rates in the country.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's San Francisco Newsletters
Related Stories

JVP Development Is Betting $37M Of Its Own Money That Frisco Is Ready For Spec Office

Hedge Fund Bids $88M For Spirit Airlines' Former HQ

Oyster Point's Second Phase Half-Leased As Kilroy Navigates Soft Lab Demand

BXP Closes In On Next D.C. Office Development As It Shrinks Assets

Clarion Under Contract To Sell 18-Story Seaport Office Tower

Oil Company Expands Again At Cash Register Building

BXP's 343 Madison Lands $1.2B Loan, Nears Deal With Equity Partner

D.C. Sues To Block HUD Headquarters Move To Virginia

Ken Griffin Completes Takeover Of Brickell Block, Setting Stage For $2.5B Megaproject

Private Equity Firm Buys Former Texas Instruments Campus For New Headquarters

DFW Office Footprints Likely To Shrink As AI Use Increases And Companies Battle For Talent

Boston Waterfront Property Planned For Hotel Project Put Up For Sale