Downtown Oakland is beginning to make its office recovery. Social media company Twitter has signed a 66,000-square-foot lease for four full floors at 1330 Broadway in Downtown Oakland, California. The lease marks Twitters expansion into Oakland and illustrates the strong demand for office space from tech companies.

It isn't surprising that tech companies would lead the office recovery in Oakland. During the pandemic, technology companies drove leasing activity across the US. A report earlier this year from CBRE shows that tech companies accounted for 17% of all US office leasing last year by square footage, as opposed to 21% the previous year. However, tech company leasing was still down 48% over 2019 levels to 26 million square feet. Total office leasing in the U.S. declined by 36% year-over-year.

Oakland didn't make the list of the top 10 markets for office leasing last year, although neighboring San Francisco did. Seattle was the most active market for office leasing among technology companies, according to the report, followed by Manhattan and Washington DC.