START: Reuben Torenberg, Senior Vice President, CBRE: "Q1 2026 SF Office Market Report"

In 2022, San Francisco leased five million square feet of office spaceThe entire yearIn Q1 2026 alone: more than four millionAt the time of this recording (Apr 2026) tenant demand reached 7.5 million square feetThe highest ever recorded.OpenAI has accumulated nearly a million square feet in Mission BayCoinbase, 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 2016The 3% vacancy boom and record rentsThe 38% vacancy COVID collapseAnd the AI-driven resurgence happening nowWe're probably still early in this cycleThe AI wave showed you can do more with lessAnd that's changing how founders think about space🎙️ Reuben Torenberg, Senior Vice President, CBRE on Fondo START00:36 Why brokering compounds the longer you do it01:08 SF's pre-COVID boom, then the jump to 38% vacancy02:18 How AI restarted SF office demand02:42 Where we are in the cycle, and why it isn't the top03:25 The leasing numbers that signal a real shift04:34 Why startups are leasing differently now05:34 How distressed buildings changed hands at a discount06:11 How landlords regained leverage07:38 What landlords actually check before they'll sign you09:48 Why plug-and-play subleases win with startups12:18 Advice for founders hunting their first office13:01 Treating the office as a recruiting tool, not a status symbollearn more at cbre.com