Despite concern that demand will continue to wane for the office asset class in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, office leases are still being inked. Newmark arranged six new leases in an office complex in Mill Valley, California, according to a press release from Newmark.

The 99K SF complex, dubbed the Shoreline Office Center and built in 1985, is composed of two- and three-story buildings. The leases, which total 60K SF, include the Club Evexia, a fitness and wellness center that leased 16K SF at the end of 2021 and is now expanding to 22K SF; Jyzen Labs, a bio-optimization lab; Cypress Point Investment Management; OBE Worldwide; and Every Man Jack.

Newmark Executive Managing Director Haden Ongaro and Director Alisa Belew represented the landlord, Basin Street Properties, in the lease transactions.

The new deals help to backfill 45K SF vacated by Glassdoor last year when it relocated to San Francisco.

There was 55K SF of positive net office absorption across Marin County in Q1 '22, only the second quarter of positive leasing since Q2 '19, Newmark said.

Despite the uptick in office leasing activity, there has been a swath of new vacancies in recent months. Merrill Lynch made waves in February when it announced plans to shutter a 102K SF downtown San Francisco office where it has been located for more than 20 years. The company plans to relocate to a space formerly occupied by Bank of America. Other high-profile office space departures in the city include Slack and Autodesk.

Salesforce also scaled back its office footprint strategy but entered into a deal earlier this year to utilize the Trailblazer Ranch, a 75-acre resort that it plans to use for training, events and meetings. Though the company has stated that it plans to maintain flexibility for employees that wish to continue working remotely, it said it intends to emphasize the importance of in-person gatherings and events in the future.