Facebook inks largest private sector US office lease of 2021

Los Angeles

FACEBOOK is expanding with a pair of new office leases in the Silicon Valley area. The social networking company, now known as Meta Platforms, will occupy the 719,000 square foot (sq ft) site of the former headquarters of NetApp in Sunnyvale, California. It also signed a lease in nearby Burlingame - bringing the total new space to more than 1 million sq ft.

New York-based Tishman Speyer bought the Sunnyvale property in April for US$365 million. The deal with Meta is the largest private sector US office lease signed this year, the real estate firm said in a statement.

The Meta expansion comes as many employers reassess their office needs nearly 2 years after the pandemic spurred remote work. Technology companies, however, have continued to add space as they look to accommodate future growth.

Tishman Speyer has invested roughly US$16 billion in real estate since the Covid-19 outbreak, about half of that in office buildings in markets such as San Francisco, Austin, Boston and Seattle.

"We were always convinced that the tech sector would maintain a strong appetite for high-quality collaborative spaces and are excited Sunnyvale will house one of the world's leading companies," said chief executive officer Rob Speyer. "Our thesis played out even more quickly than we imagined."

Meta leased the spaces in Sunnyvale and Burlingame to reduce employee commute times and support public transit, said Chloe Meyere, a spokesperson for the company. Employees are still allowed to work remotely, but will be expected to spend about half their time in offices starting next year, unless they receive an exemption, she said. BLOOMBERG