Elon Musk’s X, once called Twitter, is closing its San Francisco office, which marks the end of a long existence in the city since it started in 2006. Bloomberg reported this as part of the organization’s larger operational changes with staff being moved to their current offices in San Jose and Palo Alto.
Market Street Office Closure
Through an internal email, X Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino confirmed that they were shutting down the Market Street location which has been a significant place for the company since it shifted into Mid-Market area back in 2012. This was after Musk bought the company last year and said he was no longer pleased with the cultural and political aspects of San Francisco. The company has expressed its dissatisfaction with the city of San Francisco and California state laws under Governor Gavin Newsom.
Headquarters moving
Prior to this, Musk hinted that X would shift its headquarters to Texas as part of his overall criticism about the liberal nature of the town. As recently as last month, it made available for lease 460k sq ft of its San Francisco office space. Closing down Market street office finally cements this move away from SF.
Implication on tech scene
The closure itself represents an important milestone for San Fran where Twitter had originated almost two decades ago. There was also a market street office within a business complex consisting some other technology firms that received special tax incentives. In recent years, however, Covid-19 pandemic and slow return to offices have eroded neighborhood which thrived formerly upon tech workers and new construction projects; moreover CBRE data reveals that out all major US cities metropolitan areas it had highest rate (above 36%) for vacant offices.
