Twitter To Close Parts Of 1.7M SF Global Office Footprint
As revenues sag and its board sues to force a reluctant Elon Musk to make good on a buyout, Twitter Inc. is pulling back from its office commitments around the world.
The social media company is planning to vacate an office on 10th Street in San Francisco behind its main headquarters, Bloomberg reported, citing a letter sent to employees Wednesday.
Prior to the closure announcement, Twitter attempted to sublease 100K SF in the building.
That occurred even as it renewed and expanded its Market Square headquarters, leasing the sixth floor of 1355 Market St. in a deal announced earlier this year. The headquarters is the largest space in Twitter's 1.7M SF global office portfolio.
In addition to the San Francisco closure, Twitter is canceling plans to open a 66K SF office in Oakland and is planning to reduce its footprint in several other cities, according to Bloomberg.
That includes New York, where in 2018 Twitter extended a 215K SF lease at a Columbia Property Trust property in Chelsea through April 2030. It may also reduce space in Dublin, Tokyo, Mumbai and New Delhi, and other international offices may close entirely once their leases expire, Bloomberg reported.
The social media giant has promised its employees they can work remotely "forever," but that plan has at least one prominent detractor.
Musk is locked in a battle in Delaware Chancery Court over his refusal to make good on a deal to buy Twitter. A trial is scheduled for October.
The $44B deal is in limbo, but experts have speculated that if Musk buys Twitter, he could begin moving operations to Texas, as he has done for Tesla and The Boring Co. He has been vocal about his preference for in-person work.
“Even if someone is working remotely, they’ve got to come in sometimes so they recognize their colleagues," Musk said at a June 16 town hall meeting, according to CNN. "The bias for me may be strongly toward working in person, but if somebody is exceptional, then remote work can be OK.”
