Tech firm signs largest S.F. office lease this year
Dutch tech company Adyen is bullish on San Francisco.
The payments processor signed a 150,000-square-foot office sublease at 505 Brannan St., in the largest deal of 2024, to date. Amsterdam-based Adyen, which has been in San Francisco since 2012, bucked the trend of numerous companies shrinking in the age of remote work.
The space became available because Pinterest listed it for sublease as part of its office downsizing that included canceling a huge 490,000-squarefoot expansion in the early days of the pandemic. Similar cuts by other tech and non-tech companies drove San Francisco’s office vacancy rate to almost 36% at the end of last year, according to brokerage CBRE.
Adyen’s sublease spans all six floors of the building, which is in South of Market near the Caltrain station. The company is moving from a smaller office a few blocks away at 274 Brannan St.
Davi Strazza, Adyen president of North America, said the region was the company’s fastest growing market. Being in San Francisco enables it to recruit top tech talent and meet with customers, which include major Bay Area tech companies like Meta, Uber and eBay. Adyen also does business with major e-commerce operators such as Nike.
The new office will encourage more collaboration and spontaneous interactions, Strazza said. Employees are required to be in the office at least three days a week. Adyen has more than 300 San Francisco workers and had almost 4,200 globally at the end of last year.
“We are an office-first company,” Strazza said. “We truly believe it has an impact. … It will definitely help us accelerate in many directions that we think are important for our team dynamics.”
Expanding Adyen’s office “helps our teams be more effective. It helps us connect with customers,” he said. “San Francisco has checked those two boxes.”
In contrast, two major Adyen competitors have shifted their workers out of San Francisco to other parts of the Bay Area. Stripe said before the pandemic that it would move its headquarters to nearby South San Francisco. Block, creator of the Square payments system, closed its former Mid-Market headquarters and its largest office hub is now in Oakland.
Adyen didn’t disclose how much it will pay in rent. It plans to move in during the third quarter of this year, and its lease continues through the end of 2032.
Adyen also has offices in New York, Chicago and a smaller location in Toronto.
Though artificial intelligence has become the hottest sector in tech, and San Francisco is its leading hub, Strazza said Adyen’s growth in the city predates that boom.
The city’s powerful tech economy also supersedes any concerns over other businesses closing or leaving, he said.
“We want to be where we can access talent and retain talent. That’s what really matters,” Strazza said. “We are very optimistic about the future of our business here.”