START

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

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Fondo is an all-in-one accounting platform for startups. Get your books closed, taxes filed, and cash back from the IRS.