LinkedIn’s Lease at Tishman’s San Francisco Tower—Trend Among Tech Companies

By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Technology companies continue to power the hot office market in San Francisco, with LinkedIn announcing it is leasing the entire 26-story office building Tishman Speyer is constructing at 222 Second St. The Mountain View, Calif.-based firm is expanding its presence in San Francisco by taking about 450,000 square feet for approximately 2,500 employees.

The company, which operates a professional social network with 300 million members worldwide, already leases 135,000 square feet at One Montgomery Tower and will occupy 87,000 square feet at 505 Howard St. in the city. Tishman Speyer is also developing 505 Howard St., a 10-story building at First and Howard streets.

“With this new building, LinkedIn is committed to expanding in San Francisco, giving us even more access to some of the most talented professionals in the world across a variety of functions, including technology, sales and operations,” Jim Morgensen, LinkedIn Head of Workplace, said in a news release.

The LinkedIn deal comes about a week after a blockbuster leasing transaction was finalized with Salesforce.com taking 714,000 square feet in the 61-story, 1.4 million-square-foot Transbay Tower at 415 Mission St., which will be renamed Salesforce Tower. It was the largest office lease in San Francisco’s history. The company is already the city’s largest tech employer and has space at 50 Fremont St., 350 Mission St. and its headquarters at The Landmark @ One Market along the Embarcadero.

“This latest monster lease is part of a clear trend towards large blocks of space being taken down by mostly technology-oriented companies, many of which are expanding and either desire to be headquartered in the city or maintain a presence here,” Christopher Roeder, an International Director based in  JLL’s San Francisco office, told Commercial Property Executive. “ Based on the roughly 2.25 million square feet of deals completed so far this year by firms seeking 100,000 square feet or more, San Francisco is on pace right now to see more large blocks of space change hands than at any year in its history and will likely soon surpass 2000’s 2.5 million square feet in large lease volume.”

Carl Shannon, Tishman Speyer senior managing director, noted in the release that the city’s office market is thriving, adding that companies are “recognizing the many advantages of a state-of-the-art building in a downtown location.”

“This building was planned and designed accordingly, and we think LinkedIn is a perfect fit,” Shannon added.

The developer acquired the property at the southwest corner of Howard and Second streets in 2006. It was fully entitled in December 2010. Construction is under way and is expected to be ready for occupancy by early 2016. In addition to the office space, the building will have over 2,000 square feet of retail, two subterranean parking levels and 8,500 square feet of public space. It is located about one block from the Transbay Terminal and close to other mass transit.

The building is being constructed for LEED Gold certification. Thomas Phifer and Partners is the design architect and Gensler is the architect of record. Turner Construction Co. is the builder.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn is also still adding space in Silicon Valley. In December, 2012, Kilroy Realty Corp. acquired a 12-acre parcel at Maude and Matilda avenues in Sunnyvale, Calif., from JP DiNapoli Companies and said it had inked a 12-year leasing deal with LinkedIn for the $315 million, 587,000-square-foot office project.