Rakuten expands into SF offices subleased from Glassdoor

Rakuten International is moving to a larger space in the South Financial District, giving up 24,000 square feet at 160 Spear Street to relocate into 29,000 square feet on the 18th floor at 300 Mission Street around the corner, according to a press release from JLL, which represented the Tokyo-based Rakuten Global subsidiary in the deal.

Brittan Hawken of JLL represented Rakuten in the transaction, a full-floor sublease from Glassdoor, according to the San Francisco Business Times. Though the sublease, which was marketed by CBRE, is only through 2025, the technology and media tenant has an option to stay for five years longer. 

The move-in is already underway, according to JLL. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.

As its lease was running out at 160 Spear, Rakuten could have consolidated all of its workers in San Mateo, its Bay Area home base. But CEO Amit Patel said in a statement that the company realized “the heart of our business and its attraction to a new generation of technology workers was directly connected to maintaining a presence” in the city. 

Rakuten International has more than 550 Bay Area employees, out of 4,000 globally, and is the first-ever jersey badge sponsor for the Golden Gate Warriors basketball team. 

The company recently announced a three-day in-office policy after allowing employees to be fully remote since the pandemic, though it will also have a “work-from-anywhere July” for additional flexibility. 

Rakuten has seven businesses, including a cash-back shopping site, a messaging app, advertising and marketing companies, e-readers and European television streaming services. 

The move allows Rakuten to put its approximately 160 San Francisco employees on one floor, as opposed to the two smaller floors with “outdated layouts that were increasingly at odds with collaborating effectively,” Patel said.  The company occupied the space for nine years, 

“This investment in our people will create a more comfortable, more flexible and more easily accessible space, and ultimately a better choice than consolidating Bay Area operations to our San Mateo regional headquarters,” he said.

EBay has also taken one floor of Glassdoor’s subleases in the 24-story 300 Mission. Glassdoor began a “work where you want” policy in June 2020 that allows employees at the job and salary information site to work fully remote, fully in office or a hybrid. 

Autodesk moved out of the building in 2022 as it consolidated offices at One Market. Iconiq Capital later subleased the space in the Paramount Group-owned tower.

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