Flex Focus Isn’t Abating Amid Tightening Office Space
Flexible workspaces are in particularly high demand in the San Francisco market as evidenced by Knotel’s two new office leases totaling 62,979 square feet that hit the books in recent weeks.
SAN FRANCISCO—The upsurge of flexible office leasing activity continues amid ongoing space constraints here. A couple of recent leases illustrate that point.
Knotel’s two new office leases total 62,979 square feet. With this added space, Knotel’s overall presence in San Francisco has now grown to 22 locations totaling approximately 263,000 square feet.
“We had significant growth in San Francisco in 2018, and are looking to continue this trend as we head into 2019,” Kwame Spearman, head of expansion for Knotel, tells GlobeSt.com. “Flexible workspaces are in particularly high demand in the San Francisco market, and we are looking forward to expanding our presence in the city with these new leases.”
The agile workspace provider signed a 56,271-square-foot lease at Hudson Pacific Properties’ 625 Second St., a recently renovated historic property in the SoMa district. The new lease encompasses the entire first and second floors of the four-story 137,000-square-foot class-A building, which is strategically located a block away from AT&T Park in what will be the Mission Rock complex.
In addition to Knotel’s new SoMa location, the firm inked a lease at 126 Post St. in the Financial District. The 6,258-square-foot space occupies the building’s third floor.
“San Francisco remains one of the tightest office markets in the country, with strong leasing activity by the tech sector, availability rates in the single digits and limited big blocks of quality space,” comments Spearman. “These newly available locations will help to address the high demand for flexible office options in the city.”
Just as it is home to technology innovation, San Francisco is an innovator in flex space, according to this week’s report by JLL. The fast-changing technology sector combined with a historically tight office market has created an ideal environment for co-working and incubator-style flex space offerings. With slightly more than 2.7 million square feet of flex space, the city ranks sixth among US markets for flex space, suggesting strong growth potential ahead.
Justin Bedecarre and Blake Star of HelloOffice represented Knotel in both transactions. Brian McCarthy, Mike McCarthy and Mike Monroe of Colliers International represented Hudson Pacific Properties at 625 Second St., while Reza Musavi of Cushman & Wakefield represented landlord J. Stella Inc.at 126 Post St.
Knotel, founded in New York City just three years ago, has expanded with additional locations in San Francisco, London, Berlin, Paris, Los Angeles and Brazil. Knotel designs, builds and operates custom spaces for established and growing companies of 50 employees or more. Today, more than 200 companies call Knotel home.