San Francisco Bay Area Claims 11 of the Largest Office Leases in 2024

The San Francisco Bay Area claimed 11 of the largest U.S. office leases in 2024, according to a new report from CBRE. Ten of those leases were signed by tech companies, and one by a life sciences company.

The Bay Area’s 11 leases totaled 3.37 million sq. ft. Four leases were in San Francisco, while seven leases were in Silicon Valley. This is down from the year prior when the region had 13 leases totaling 3.95 million sq. ft. However, the tech sector gained leasing momentum in 2024 due to the growth of artificial intelligence.

Tech companies committed to over 8 million sq. ft. in office leases in the Bay Area in 2024, which was half of all square footage leased and more than double of any other business sector.

Nationally, the tech industry accounted for 29 of the largest leases of 2024 up from just 11 in 2023. For Q4 2024, tech’s activity across all leases larger than 10,000 sq. ft. was 20% of the U.S. total and topped all other sectors.

“The tech industry’s new growth cycle now underway has created more hiring opportunities, leading to companies expanding their office footprints. Leasing activity by the tech sector is still below pre-pandemic levels, but its strong return positions the Bay Area’s office market for recovery in the next several years,” said Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Center.

National Trends

Large office users signed bigger leases in 2024 compared to the previous year, indicating a potential shift to stabilization and expansion by office occupiers after several years of contraction due to hybrid work, according to a new report from CBRE.

CBRE’s analysis of the 100 largest office leases revealed that their average size rose to 288,834 sq. ft. in 2024, an 8% increase from 2023. The average had been declining since 2020 except for an isolated increase in 2021.

More companies signing mega leases opted to stay put last year rather than relocate. Sixty-eight of the largest 100 leases were renewals, up from 58 in 2023 and 44 at the recent low point in 2021.

Two influences likely contributed to the rise in renewals. First, staying put is less expensive than relocating and outfitting and designing that new space.

Second, a slowdown in office construction in recent years has limited the availability of large blocks of high-quality office space in certain markets, making it harder and more expensive for companies to find better locations.

NYC, DC Lead in Share of Top Leases

On the market level, Manhattan led all markets by a wide margin for share of the largest 100 leases than other regions.

Top Markets by Share of Largest 100 Office Leases of 2024