Rakuten Doubles Down on San Francisco With Downtown Lease

Rakuten International, a subsidiary of the Japanese tech giant that locals may know as the Golden State Warriors' jersey sponsor, announced Monday that the company is moving from its old offices at 160 Spear St. to a larger space around the corner at 300 Mission St . is moving .

The company is currently moving into the building's 29,000-square-foot 18th floor and views the new deal as a renewed “commitment to the city,” Rakuten said.

Previously, Rakuten's approximately 160 employees in San Francisco were divided into two separate floors on Spear Street, which the company had occupied since 2015. This rental agreement has now expired.

“Our previous location's 24,000 square feet was spread over two floors with outdated floor plans that were increasingly impediment to effective collaboration,” Rakuten International CEO Amit Patel said in a statement.

The 18th floor on Mission Street, meanwhile, will feature more amenities, conference rooms and collaboration spaces for Rakuten employees, Patel added. According to the listing, the 24-story building was built in 1968 and renovated in 1995 and 2007. Other tenants include Instacart, Equinox, Mendocino Farms and Autodesk.

Workplace review company Glassdoor leased four floors at 300 Mission in 2019 as part of its headquarters move from Mill Valley to San Francisco. But after the pandemic scuppered plans to move hundreds of employees into the building, the company subsequently offered two floors for sublease – which generally offers prospective tenants more favorable and/or flexible terms.

The Japanese company's U.S. headquarters is in nearby San Mateo, 800 Concar Dr., and Rakuten employs more than 550 people in the Bay Area. Rakuten International spokesman Shawn Roberts confirmed that employees must come to the offices at least three days a week.

About half of the company's nationwide workforce is based in offices, Roberts said.

Rakuten's business centers on its e-commerce website, sometimes referred to as the “Amazon of Japan,” which was launched in 1997. The success of this platform has since spawned a financial services division and even a mobile services network that launched in 2020.

Real estate brokerage firm JLL represented Rakuten in its latest sublease at 300 Mission.