A set of huge offices in Menlo Park is passing between tech companies, with cloud computing standout Snowflake subleasing a 773,000 square foot campus from Facebook and Instagram parent Meta.
Snowflake confirmed the news — first reported Tuesday by the San Francisco Chronicle — in an email to SFGATE. The tech company, whose tools help companies manage their data, plans to move workers from a smaller San Mateo campus to four buildings at the northern edge of Menlo Park, on Constitution Drive and Independence Drive. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
Though Snowflake pulled its official headquarters from San Mateo to Bozeman, Montana, in 2021, Warrick Taylor, Snowflake’s vice president of workplace and real estate, hyped up the Bay Area to SFGATE on Tuesday. He said the region has been “at the heart of technology and innovation for decades, creating an environment that celebrates innovation and creativity that drives our society forward.” Snowflake’s sublease will run through 2033. The company chose Bozeman as its official HQ because its where top executives are based, but considers itself “distributed.”
“The Menlo Park office will give us room to grow, as well as give our Bay Area employees an amazing environment in which they can do their best work,” Taylor wrote. He also said the office will accommodate Snowflake’s “growth trajectory” — the company gained 1,120 workers in its 2024 fiscal year, per filings. Taylor hyped up the new office’s amenities, including its gym, cafes, parking and proximity to Bedwell Bayfront Park. The lease is larger than Snowflake was looking for in August 2023, according to a San Francisco Business Times report.
The news comes during a great month for Snowflake. Its stock soared on a positive Nov. 20 earnings report, springing its market cap up to $60 billion, the highest level since March. Though the 12-year-old company is still worth far less than after its 2020 initial public offering, the report bolstered investors’ confidence in the company as it competes with Databricks and incumbent tech giants.
Meta, by giving up the offices, is dropping chunks of its massive backyard. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company boasts a swath of real estate in the area, including Instagram’s home base, the Hacker Way street loop and the beginnings of its Willow Village mixed-use neighborhood. Snowflake’s new sublease is a mile walk from Meta Park, constructed in 2022.
Meta had leased the Constitution Drive and Independence Drive campus before all of its buildings were complete, according to the Mercury News. The company has dramatically scaled back its staff over the past three years, with layoffs and Zuckerberg’s avowed “year of efficiency,” so it stands to reason that it’s able to drop some office space. Meta did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.
Work at a Bay Area tech company and want to talk? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at stephen.council@sfgate.com or on Signal at 628-204-5452.