Meta Bails On Third Office Space, This Time In Austin

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. has decided not to occupy 589K SF of office space in Downtown Austin, but rather to sublease it, The Real Deal reports, the third time the social media company has backed out of an office commitment in the last month.

The tech giant leased all of the office space in the 1.14M SF building at 400 West Sixth St. in January. 

Meta's lease in the building is among those that are part of a $2B hit the company expects to take as it cuts back its office footprint this year.

"We are currently evaluating our real estate portfolio globally, and making focused, balanced investments to support our most strategic long-term priorities,” a Meta spokesperson told TRD, confirming the plans to sublease.

Meta has had a tough year since it rebranded itself from Facebook and asserted that the metaverse was the next big thing. Investors — who are leaving tech anyway — were not impressed. Since this time last year, Meta stock has cratered in value by nearly 73%.

Meta needs to regain the confidence of investors and everyone else, Altimeter Capital Management CEO Brad Gerstner said last month in an open letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 

"Meta needs to get its mojo back," Gerstner wrote. "Meta needs to get fit and focused."

Meta had agreed to take space in the first 33 floors of the Austin building. Besides the office portion, the tower will feature 349 residential units on the 34th to 66th floors, plus 10K SF of retail space. 

Lincoln Property Co. is developing the tower, which will be the tallest building in Austin upon completion next year, at 66 stories.