This article appeared originally on San Francisco Business Times.
San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. has officially become a tenant of Oakland after finalizing its office expansion into a downtown skyscraper.
The social media company has signed a new, direct lease for 66,000 square feet of office space at 1330 Broadway St., the office tower's owners — San Francisco's TMG Partners and global investment firm KKR — announced Friday.
Twitter's new office will span four floors in the 18-story, 320,000-square-foot skyscraper, and represents an expansion from its San Francisco headquarters complex at 1355 Market St., where the company will retain its primary office.
The deal has been in the making for several months and comes as a boon to Oakland's office market, which also recently scored Zendesk Inc. — the San Francisco-based software company earlier this year signed on to a sublease at 1814 Franklin St., where it plans to open a small satellite office — as well as one-time San Francisco tenants Credit Karma and PG&E, which have or will be relocating their corporate headquarters to the East Bay city.
"The Oakland office market has maintained strong tenant demand from companies both growing their footprint in Oakland and those looking to move to Oakland for its strong workforce, diverse lifestyle, entertainment options, transportation and ample housing options," said David Cropper, TMG's director of development.
"Together with KKR, we are proud to welcome Twitter to 1330 Broadway as a long-term tenant."
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said that Twitter's expansion into Oakland "demonstrates that major employers are still dawn to our city's unique cultural amenities and creative energy."
TMG and KKR acquired 1330 Broadway — located next to the 12th Street BART Station — in 2018, after which TMG launched renovations that included a new main lobby and building entrance, new common area finishes, as well as the modernization of building systems, elevators and conference facilities.
Twitter's new landlords were represented in the deal by John Dolby of Cushman and Wakefield, and Twitter was represented by Christina Clark and Matt Lehman of Cresa.