Tech industry giant Yelp is searching for space in the Washington area, a major win for an office market constantly looking to break out beyond government.

San Francisco-based Yelp, one of the most recognizable brands on the internet and a publicly traded company, has retained CBRE to broker its search and is looking for space between 80K and 150K SF, the Washington Business Journal reports. Bisnow sources have confirmed the WBJ's story.

The company's search has been carried out with great secrecy, with some potential landlords knowing only they are marketing to a Bay Area tech company.

Two of the major competitors for Yelp's D.C. landing spot are Terrell Place in Chinatown and Monday Properties' 1812 North Moore in Rosslyn, which sat vacant for years after construction only to land Nestlé's new U.S. headquarters earlier this year. The food manufacturer took 206K SF of 1812's 537K SF with expansion options, but to also land such a company as Yelp would be a massive, rapid turnaround for the building.

Terrell Place is also close to signing a deal for a new Facebook D.C. HQ in part of the vacancy Venable left when it moved to 600 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

Yelp reportedly is looking to bring as many as 500 employees wherever it establishes its offices. The company has over 4,000 globally, with satellite offices in Arizona and New York already.