Episode
START: Reuben Torenberg, Senior Vice President, CBRE: "Q1 2026 SF Office Market Report"
- Podcast
- START
- Published
- Jun 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 995
- Processing state
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- https://share.transistor.fm/s/63c3423a
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Summary
In 2022, San Francisco leased five million square feet of office space The entire year In Q1 2026 alone: more than four million At the time of this recording (Apr 2026) tenant demand reached 7.5 million square feet The highest ever recorded. OpenAI has accumulated nearly a million square feet in Mission Bay Coinbase, Nvidia, and the Warriors all landed at Mission Rock (It's effectively full - premium space there is almost impossible to get) Reuben Torenberg has brokered SF startup office deals through every major cycle since 2016 The 3% vacancy boom and record rents The 38% vacancy COVID collapse And the AI-driven resurgence happening now We're probably still early in this cycle The AI wave showed you can do more with less And that's changing how founders think about space 🎙️ Reuben Torenberg , Senior Vice President, CBRE on Fondo START 00:36 Why brokering compounds the longer you do it 01:08 SF's pre-COVID boom, then the jump to 38% vacancy 02:18 How AI restarted SF office demand 02:42 Where we are in the cycle, and why it isn't the top 03:25 The leasing numbers that signal a real shift 04:34 Why startups are leasing differently now 05:34 How distressed buildings changed hands at a discount 06:11 How landlords regained leverage 07:38 What landlords actually check before they'll sign you 09:48 Why plug-and-play subleases win with startups 12:18 Advice for founders hunting their first office 13:01 Treating the office as a recruiting tool, not a status symbol learn more at cbre.com