Visa has sublet its downtown San Francisco headquarters before planning a move to a new center south of Oracle Park.
The San Francisco-based credit card issuer has put its 190,000-square-foot office on One Market Street on the sublease market before moving to a new complex in Mission Bay. reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
Potential terms of the five-story sublease at the Embarcadero were not disclosed.
According to Savills, the listing, which is among the city’s largest, will squander thousands of square feet in the office market, where vacancy has hit a record 32.7 percent during an era of remote work.
The listing alone will increase the city’s vacancy rate by 0.22 percentage points, the Chronicle reported.
However, Visa’s move has nothing to do with cutting costs or working from home.
The payments giant inked a deal in 2019 to move to a 13-story, 300,000-square-foot headquarters currently under construction in Mission Rock. The 28-acre mixed-use project, developed by the San Francisco Giants and New York-based Tishman Speyer, is across from McCovey Cove from the Giants’ ballpark.
The Buildings at NEC 3rd and Mission Rock streets has more than 50 percent more space than its current hub, Visa told the Chronicle. In 2019, 650 Visa employees worked at One Market Plaza, while the 210-foot Mission Rock tower is expected to house 1,500 people.
With 1.6 million square meters in two towers, One Market Plaza is one of the largest office properties in the city, which is 200,000 square meters more volume than the Salesforce Tower.
The building, which is owned by New York-based Paramount Group and Blackstone, was 96.6 percent occupied at the end of last year. According to Paramount filings, the company generates $151.7 million in annual office rent and $2.8 million in retail and restaurant rent.
In January, Autodesk has offered 73,000 square feet for sublease, citing a rise in flexible work. Visa and Autodesk’s sublease offerings increase the building’s vacancy rate by 16.4 percent.
In January, Visa listed an office with 64,000 square feet 385 Sherman Avenue in Palo Alto for sublease as part of the Mission Rock consolidation.
The company still has a main office in Foster City, where it was formerly based.
In a similar move in 2019, Uber moved its headquarters from mid-market to Mission Bay, making its former hub at 1455 Market Street available for subleases. But after 3.5 years, the ridesharing company had no prospects.
Meanwhile, Block, Reddit, and WeWork have left or plan to leave the building.
— Dana Bartholomew
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