Pinterest pays $89.5 million to terminate San Francisco workplace lease
Pinterest, a social sharing website known for pinning recipes, home inspiration, and more, has canceled its large office rental in San Francisco.
The lease was for 88 Bluxome, a high-rise complex to be built near the existing Pinterest headquarters in San Francisco. The company referred in its decision to relocating from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Pinterest will keep its current city offices.
“As we analyze how our workplace will change in a post-COVID world, we are specifically rethinking where future employees might be based,” said Todd Morgenfeld, Pinterest chief financial officer, in a statement Friday. “A distributed workforce gives us the opportunity to hire people with a broader range of backgrounds and experiences.”
The cancellation fee for the 490,000 square foot office space is $ 89.5 million, according to Bloomberg. Eighty-eight Bluxome in the China Basin next to the 4th and King Caltrain Stations is one of the city’s most ambitious new developments. Upon completion there will be two high-rise office buildings, retail stores on the ground floor, 12 tennis halls and several swimming pools. Pinterest’s lease was signed with Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.
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Pinterest’s change of plan is just the latest indicator that the Bay Area’s business districts may look very different in the years to come. Facebook, Apple and Twitter have indicated that work from home may stretch well into the future, with much of their workforce potentially staying away even after the coronavirus pandemic ends. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, told employees that they can work remotely permanently if they so choose.
The change in working life can also trigger a change in demographics in the Bay Area. In an anonymous survey of 4,400 technicians, two-thirds of respondents said they would consider leaving the area permanently if they were allowed to work from home.
