Flexport Looking To Sublease Its Bank Of America Plaza Offices
A digital freight and shipping giant is putting the “for rent” sign on its Atlanta office amid a broader push to reduce its office space worldwide.
Flexport is seeking to sublease up to 75K SF at Bank of America Plaza, according to three sources familiar with the listing.
In 2018, the San Francisco-based company leased 50K SF at the building, the tallest in the Southeast, then expanded by another 25K SF in 2021. It billed the tower at 600 Peachtree St. NE as an ideal location to attract the tech talent in the area, the Atlanta Business Chronicle previously reported.
But turmoil at the company as it moves to cut costs following a rapid expansion has changed its outlook on its office space.
When Flexport founder Ryan Petersen stepped into the CEO role last year after ousting former Amazon executive Dave Clark in a surprise shake-up, he vowed to reduce the company’s global office footprint.
“We have way too much for our size—we rented space for a 2x bigger team!!” Petersen wrote on the X social media platform last year. “New official Flexport real estate policy is we don't get new office space til there's always a line at the bathroom in the current office space.”
Flexport also cut roughly 950 employees from the payroll last year as the firm battled to return to profitability.
“Flexport is committed to our presence in Atlanta and to serving our customers in the area,” a Flexport spokesperson said in a statement, declining to comment further.
A spokesperson for CP Group, which purchased the iconic office tower on the border between Midtown and Downtown Atlanta in 2022, declined to comment.
Flexport is among a number of companies looking to sublease their Metro Atlanta offices, helping push the inventory of leased but unused office space to record levels.
“In the past week alone, over 150K SF of new sublease space has hit the Atlanta office market, bringing the current amount of space available to 8.97M SF, just below peak levels seen in third quarter of 2023 when it stood at 8.98M SF,” Partners Real Estate Senior Vice President of Research Steve Triolet told Bisnow in an email.
Other companies seeking takers for space they no longer want include electronics manufacturer ScioTeq, which is subleasing 23K SF at 6650 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, and the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which is looking for takers for 21K SF at Coda at Tech Square, according to Partners.
“While some major markets like Houston and Dallas have seen a significant decrease in sublease space over recent quarters, Atlanta continues to see elevated amounts,” Triolet said.
