Twitter wants to sublease part of its San Francisco headquarters

Alison Vekshin and Sarah Frier

Twitter is offering about a quarter of the space at its San Francisco headquarters complex for sublease, adding to a growing amount of excess offices available in the city as the technology industry cools.

About 7320 square metres is listed for sublease on the seventh floor of 1355 Market Street, a renovated 1930s furniture mart, and 9740 square metres is available along three floors in an adjacent building at One Tenth Street, according to marketing materials from commercial real estate firm Cresa.

“We’re always looking at ways to use our office spaces more efficiently and effectively,” Twitter spokeswoman Natalie Miyake said in a statement. “We remain committed to our home in San Francisco’s Mid-Market area.”

Twitter has offered space for sublease at two of its buildings in San Francisco. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Subleasing is becoming more prevalent in San Francisco as venture-capital investments decline and tech firms slow their hiring from a breakneck pace.

While the city’s overall office market remains strong, extra space is a warning sign that some companies overestimated their growth rate and are being forced to scale back.

An increase in subleasing predated commercial real estate downturns following the 2008 financial crisis and the dot-com bust in the late 1990s.

Twitter, which has lost a third of its market value in the past year, has been grappling with several quarters of slower-than-expected growth, as well as executive turnover.

The social-media company cut about 8 per cent of its workforce at the end of 2015, looking to be more efficient about its spending. Its sublease plans were reported by the San Francisco Business Times.

The company has about 63,452 square metres leased at both buildings, according to brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Twitter moved to its Mid-Market headquarters in 2012 after a threat to leave the city prompted San Francisco lawmakers to approve a payroll-tax break for companies that relocate to the blighted area.

Other technology companies, including Zendesk and Yammer joined Twitter, while Uber Technologies and Square moved to an office building a block away without qualifying for the tax break.