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Tag: Headquarters

  • Suicide bombers strike security force headquarters in northwestern Pakistan

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    Two suicide bombers attacked the headquarters of a security force in northwestern Pakistan on Monday morning, killing at least three officers and wounding five others, police and rescue officials said.The attack took place in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, said city Police Chief Saeed Ahmad.Video above: Pakistani officials say the insurgent attack on a train has ended but some hostages are deadHe said one attacker detonated his explosives at the main gate of the provincial headquarters of the Federal Constabulary, while the second bomber was shot and killed by officers near the parking area.According to Ahmad, a large number of security personnel were on open ground inside the headquarters for morning parade drills when the attack took place. “The terrorists involved in today’s attack were on foot and failed to reach the parade area and a timely response by our forces prevented a much larger tragedy,” he told The Associated Press.No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.However, the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, have been blamed for similar previous assaults in the country, which has witnessed a surge in militant attacks. The TPP is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban that leads Afghanistan.The latest attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people.The attacks have strained ties between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s Taliban government, with Pakistan accusing the Pakistani Taliban of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.Pakistan’s government often accuses Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to cross-border attacks by militants.Kabul denies the allegation, but tensions between the two sides escalated after Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for Oct. 9 drone strikes in Kabul and vowed retaliation. The ensuing fighting killed dozens of people, including soldiers, civilians and militants, before Qatar brokered a ceasefire on Oct. 19, which remains in place.It was followed by two rounds of talks in Istanbul, during which the two sides failed to reach an agreement after Afghanistan refused to give guarantees in writing about preventing the TTP from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan.Pakistan in recent weeks has stepped up operations against the TTP, killing dozens of insurgents near regions bordering Afghanistan. Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

    PESHAWAR, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa —

    Two suicide bombers attacked the headquarters of a security force in northwestern Pakistan on Monday morning, killing at least three officers and wounding five others, police and rescue officials said.

    The attack took place in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, said city Police Chief Saeed Ahmad.

    Video above: Pakistani officials say the insurgent attack on a train has ended but some hostages are dead

    He said one attacker detonated his explosives at the main gate of the provincial headquarters of the Federal Constabulary, while the second bomber was shot and killed by officers near the parking area.

    According to Ahmad, a large number of security personnel were on open ground inside the headquarters for morning parade drills when the attack took place. “The terrorists involved in today’s attack were on foot and failed to reach the parade area and a timely response by our forces prevented a much larger tragedy,” he told The Associated Press.

    No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

    However, the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, have been blamed for similar previous assaults in the country, which has witnessed a surge in militant attacks. The TPP is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban that leads Afghanistan.

    The latest attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people.

    Muhammad Zubair

    Security officials and rescue workers gather at the site of a suicide bombing at the main gate of headquarters of the Federal Constabulary (FC) in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.

    The attacks have strained ties between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s Taliban government, with Pakistan accusing the Pakistani Taliban of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

    Pakistan’s government often accuses Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to cross-border attacks by militants.

    Kabul denies the allegation, but tensions between the two sides escalated after Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for Oct. 9 drone strikes in Kabul and vowed retaliation. The ensuing fighting killed dozens of people, including soldiers, civilians and militants, before Qatar brokered a ceasefire on Oct. 19, which remains in place.

    It was followed by two rounds of talks in Istanbul, during which the two sides failed to reach an agreement after Afghanistan refused to give guarantees in writing about preventing the TTP from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan.

    Pakistan in recent weeks has stepped up operations against the TTP, killing dozens of insurgents near regions bordering Afghanistan.

    Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

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  • Ford Motor Shows Off New High-Tech HQ

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    Ford Motor Co.’s new headquarters, the carmaker’s first central office switch since Dwight Eisenhower was president, is double the size of its old one with room for twice as many employees.

    The new HQ has seven restaurants as part of a 160,000-square-foot food hall, office space, design studios and fabrication shops.

    And, of course, cars.

    The “crown jewel” of Ford’s headquarters, according to Ford Land’s global design and brand director, is a showroom she likened to a “James Bond villain’s lair.”

    “But it is impressive. When you’re in it, you feel like you are in the center of automotive design,” Jennifer Kolstad said this past week, after leading a media tour of the new 2.1 million square-foot HQ.

    “Its principal function is decision-making,” she said. “It’s where we showcase our new product, and our executives make decisions about what we will take to market.”

    Ford is moving its headquarters for the first time in seven decades, relocating to the newly constructed building 3 miles away in its longtime home of Dearborn, Michigan.

    The new structure is being called “Ford World Headquarters.” It is part of a larger campus that will take the name of the current HQ: Henry Ford II World Center. Henry Ford II was the grandson of company founder Henry Ford and the uncle of Bill Ford, the automaker’s executive chairman.

    Ford’s current headquarters, known as “The Glass House,” opened in 1956, and will be demolished. The 122-year-old company expects to complete its move in 2027. It is not disclosing the cost of the project.

    “Ford wants a new headquarters building that reflects who they think they are and who they want to be going forward. They don’t want to viewed as the car company from yesterday. They want to be viewed as a car company for tomorrow,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “And they need to attract new kinds of employees. They’re competing for software engineers, AI experts. Every company on the planet wants the same people. Those people are used to working in new, very cool offices.”

    Ford not only is focusing on modern amenities in its new home, it also is prioritizing proximity.

    When the new HQ is fully online in two years, it will have more than 14,000 employees within a seven-minute walk and another 9,000 within a nine-minute drive, said Jim Dobleske, Ford Land CEO.

    And, unlike The Glass House, where executives are separated from their employees, the new headquarters building is designed to allow for better and more collaboration between teams.

    “(Ford CEO) Jim Farley has said in the past: ‘When you walk into our existing headquarters building, you’re not quite sure if you’re walking into Ford or if you’re walking into a shampoo company,’” Dobleske said. “This building, you know you are walking into Ford Motor Company.”

    Some workers already have set up shop inside the new headquarters, which is to be the site of a grand-opening celebration on Sunday.

    General Motors also is in the midst of a headquarters move, departing its Renaissance Center home in Detroit for a new downtown office building.

    Gordon, the Michigan business professor, said “both companies want a new look.”

    They “want to be seen as forward-looking companies of the future — companies that are good at software and AI and things that they haven’t been known for in the past,” he said.

    Copyright 2025. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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    Associated Press

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  • Colorado-based Newmont Corp. announces third round of layoffs at headquarters

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    In a third round of layoffs, Newmont Corp. plans to let go 65 employees at its headquarters in Denver, bringing to 107 the number of recently announced staff reductions.

    Newmont, the world’s largest mining company, notified state and Denver officials Wednesday that the layoffs are expected to occur around Dec. 14. The announcement follows one in August that 19 employees would be laid off and one Oct. 1 that 23 positions, primarily in its headquarters, would be terminated on or around Nov. 30.

    Many of the targeted positions are management jobs. Newmont said in its notice that the reductions don’t “constitute a shutdown or closure of all operations at the company’s Denver headquarters.”

    Newmont said the employees will be offered severance.

    The latest notice of layoffs is part of a process the company has been working through, according to a statement from Newmont on Friday. Newmont won’t have a total number of affected employees until the process is finished, the company said.

    Newmont has said the layoffs are part of a plan announced in February that includes both labor and non-labor reductions. The company said in August that it is taking several steps “to reduce our cost base and improve productivity” to deliver on commitments to shareholders and partners.

    The cuts come as gold prices have hit record heights, rising above $4,000 an ounce for the first time. The price was about $4,265 per ounce Friday, down slightly from recent highs of above $4,300 per ounce.

    The New York Times reported that gold has jumped more than 50% in value this year.

    Newmont’s cost-cutting follows its $19.5 billion acquisition of Australian-based Newcrest Mining Ltd. in late 2023. Newmont completed its sale of the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine in March. SSR Mining Inc. paid Newmont $100 million in cash and agreed to up to $175 million in additional payments for the Colorado mine.

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    Judith Kohler

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  • This green energy company is leaving California for Texas

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    A San José-based tech company that sells roof shingles with built-in solar panels is the latest to announce plans to leave the Golden State for Texas.

    GAF Energy will relocate its headquarters to Georgetown, Texas, on Dec. 13, the company announced in a notification document filed with state officials. The company said its decision was motivated by better market opportunities in Texas, rather than an unfavorable business environment in California.

    The company will lay off 138 California-based employees, including technicians, engineers and managers.

    The San José headquarters, which is currently used for research, development and solar panel manufacturing, was opened in 2021. Both in-person and remote employees will be affected by its closure, the notice said.

    Required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, the notice must be issued by a company 60 days before a mass layoff.

    GAF Energy, which is owned by Standard Industries, opened a manufacturing facility in Texas last year. The company plans to consolidate its operations at a new headquarters in the state, President Martin DeBono said.

    “In light of ongoing changes in the solar industry, we are aligning our business and our team to focus on key markets where solar is most compelling for builders and homeowners,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “This decision was not taken lightly. We are grateful to our employees in San Jose for their contributions to the business and are committed to assisting those impacted through this transition.”

    GAF Energy advertises a more practical approach to rooftop solar energy by embedding solar panels directly into shingles, rather than installing them on top of a roof.

    The consolidation to a Texas headquarters will help the company “drive efficiencies, foster stronger collaboration and partnership amongst teams, and better serve customers,” the spokesperson said.

    Though Silicon Valley is known as a premier tech hub and incubator for young companies, many firms have left the state in recent years, complaining of strict regulations, high taxes and costly labor.

    Tesla moved its headquarters out of Palo Alto in 2021, the same year that financial services firm Charles Schwab relocated from San Francisco to northern Texas. Elon Musk moved the head offices of his other companies — SpaceX and X — to Texas last year, as did Chevron, the oil giant that was started in California.

    Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief executive, Marcus Lemonis, recently took aim at California and announced that the company would not reopen stores in the state, writing on X that “California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses.”

    Economists said the state remains the fourth-largest economy in the world, boasts a diverse pool of talent and is a hub of technological innovation.

    GAF Energy did not point to faults in California’s business environment as a reason for moving operations to Texas. However, the company will suspend all operations in the Golden State.

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    Caroline Petrow-Cohen

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  • Wedbush Securities to leave namesake building in DTLA for Pasadena

    Wedbush Securities to leave namesake building in DTLA for Pasadena

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    Wedbush Securities is leaving the desks at its namesake building in Downtown Los Angeles for a smaller office in Pasadena.

    The locally based stock brokerage is pulling up stakes from its 100,000-square-foot headquarters in the Wedbush Center at 1000 Wilshire Boulevard, along the Harbor Freeway, the Los Angeles Times reported.

    The company is setting up shop at a 20,000-square-foot office on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, an 80 percent shrinkage of its office footprint. The firm now leases an office at the Penthouse, at 225 South Lake Avenue. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    Lake Avenue, a commercial artery in Pasadena, teems with a range of restaurants and shops, as well as gyms.

    Wedbush is exiting the prominent office tower as a shift to remote work has caused many companies to downsize offices, which has decimated the Downtown office market. CBRE’s third-quarter report found overall vacancy Downtown is more than 30 percent, or “triple the amount considered to be a healthy balance between tenant and landlord interests,” according to the Times.

    Thousands of office workers have left, unlikely to return. Many shops and restaurants remain closed. Office tenants say the streets feel less safe than they once did.

    Wedbush has been based at the Wilshire Boulevard building since 2001, with two Wedbush signs on the structure visible from the 110 Freeway. Its lease with landlord Lincoln Property, based in Dallas, expires next year.

    “It’s a big deal, a very big decision for the firm,” President Gary Wedbush told the Times regarding the move. “The pandemic and COVID created a different kind of office for us.

    “There are places like Pasadena that seem to have recovered more fully from the pandemic than Downtown Los Angeles has. That was a part of the decision-making.”

    Most employees must now report to the office a third of the time, he said. Shared workspaces can be used as needed by various employees, instead of assigned desks. 

    One of the two floors Wedbush Securities leased in Pasadena has a rooftop deck that the company plans to make into an outdoor office space with conference tables and computer workstations.

    Wedbush Securities was co-founded in 1955 by Wedbush’s father, Edward, in Los Angeles. The firm now has close to 900 employees in 28 cities across the U.S. The company will formally move its headquarters from Downtown to Pasadena in the first half of next year.

    The exit reflects a trend that has affected Downtown and much of Los Angeles County for the last few years, CBRE said in a recent report on office leasing.

    “The Greater Los Angeles office market continued its search for the bottom” in the third quarter, CBRE said, as both tenants and landlords “navigate the ongoing supply and demand imbalance exacerbated by the shift to hybrid and remote work.” 

    — Dana Bartholomew

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    TRD Staff

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  • The Owners of Headquarters Beercade Unleash a Cocktail Restaurant Plush With Mixology Theatrics

    The Owners of Headquarters Beercade Unleash a Cocktail Restaurant Plush With Mixology Theatrics

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    After six months of anticipation, the owners of Headquarters Beercade have launched a new cocktail den around the corner from their arcade bar, just north of River North.

    Chireal Jordan and Brian Galati, who also own Machine, the Instagram-friendly floral phantasmagoria in Wicker Park, have spent more than two years creating Dearly Beloved, which opened Friday, June 14 at 900 N. Franklin Street in the former home of French dining stalwart Kiki’s. The longtime friends and business partners have until now kept most details under wraps, but are unabashed about their ambitions for the new “cocktail restaurant” — their latest and most elaborate venue yet.

    “We really want to rub elbows with the big dogs,” says Jordan, who notes that he and Galati spent about a year and a half on research trips around the country and the world. “We want to compete not just locally, but nationally.”

    Dearly Beloved is the most ambitious venue yet from the owners of Machine and Headquarters Beercade.
    Marisa Klug-Morataya/Dearly Beloved

    Armed with more than two decades of experience in Chicago hospitality, the partners see Dearly Beloved both as the culmination of what they’ve learned and a rare opportunity to unleash Aneka Saxon’s most outside-the-box ideas for drinks featuring lesser-known distillers and esoteric ingredients. Saxon is a Violet Hour alum and Machine’s lead bartender. Her opening offerings include the “Captured Shadow” (makrut lime-infused Kyro dark gin, agave, absinthe, coconut chai foam, citrus dust) and “Beautiful and Damned” (Ritual Sister smoked pineapple, Amara Amaro D’Arancia Rossa, Field Trip squash, dandelion honey, fenugreek).

    Jordan wants patrons with open minds and the willingness to try unusual spirits and flavor combinations. Still, those seeking a more familiar tipple can order from a lineup of classic cocktails with slight twists like Pisco Sours (Logia Acholado pisco, tangerine apricot oleo saccharum, quail egg, juniper berry) and espresso martinis (Tenjaku vodka, Good Liquorworks coffee fruit vodka, Big Shoulders espresso, mascarpone, Faretti biscotti liqueur).

    An orange cocktail in a flower-shaped glass.

    Hot and Cold Blood (Balvenie 14-year Caribbean scotch, passionfruit, tres leches espuma).
    Marisa Klug-Morataya/Dearly Beloved

    A yellow cocktail in a Nick and Nora glass with an orange cheese moon garnish.

    Waiting for the Moon (Iichiko Saiten shochu, snap pea infused Glendalough gin, Sirene Americano Bianco, Luxardo limoncello, cheese moon).
    Marisa Klug-Morataya/Dearly Beloved

    Dearly Beloved’s menu also attends to a growing demand for tasty, well-made nonalcoholic drinks — a phenomenon Jordan understands well, as his fiancée is expecting their second child — with booze-free concoctions like Last Straw (Seedlip spice, chicory coffee, shiso, lavender, Madagascar vanilla). “We don’t want Shirley Temples on this menu — we wanted cocktails that you can’t tell are alcohol-free,” he says.

    As the partners’ coinage of “cocktail restaurant” heavily implies, drinks are the main attraction at Dearly Beloved, but Machine executive chef Kristofer Lohraff offers selections that are heavy on vegetables in fun and unexpected forms. Dishes include carrot mochi (coconut curry, sesame, ginger), cigar-shaped Potato and Caviar (potato pave, malt vinegar, burnt shallot), French onion ramen (short rib, French onion soup dashi, fontina). The latter is particularly notable as Chicago is seeing an uptick in surprising cross-cultural ramen inventions like avgolemono ramen at newish Mediterranean restaurant Tama in Bucktown.

    At 6,000 square feet, Dearly Beloved is divided into various tiers and sections, seating 60 at the bar and 94 in the lounge. The aesthetic rides a narrow fence between eeriness and elegance as moody lighting filters through glass chandeliers. An elaborate Victorian metal railing flanks an elevated section and ornate, otherworldly artwork fills the walls, punctuated by a 2,500-pound sculptural centerpiece above the back bar. A visual vignette of a woman in two forms — masked and unmasked — it extends two-and-a-half feet from the wall and taps into the sexy-yet-sinister masquerade style of Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 thriller Eyes Wide Shut.

    A bowl of French onion ramen.

    French onion ramen (short rib, French onion soup dashi, fontina).
    Marisa Klug-Morataya/Dearly Beloved

    A sculpture of hands holding out a mask.

    Marisa Klug-Morataya/Dearly Beloved

    A dozen years have passed since Jordan and Galati founded ultra-casual arcade bar Headquarters Beercade in Lakeview and the partners say they’ve grown significantly as operators over the intervening years. With Juneteenth being more widely recognized, Jordan says that Chicago’s hospitality scene has also evolved, especially for Black hospitality entrepreneurship following the racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd.

    “I [once] felt very painted in a corner with a handful of other [Black] operators for years,” he says. “Now I’m seeing more people of color opening on the North Side — people I don’t know are getting more opportunities to get loans and open up. It’s not like fixed everything and now it’s an even playing field… we’re probably decades away from that, but I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

    Dearly Beloved, 900 N. Franklin Street. Reservations via OpenTable.

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    Naomi Waxman

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  • Amour Vert Moves Headquarters Downtown

    Amour Vert Moves Headquarters Downtown

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    Amour Vert Moves Headquarters Downtown
    Ad: A trio of women model their Amour Vert outfits.

    Sustainable premium fashion retailer Amour Vert is moving its headquarters this June from San Francisco to the Fashion District of downtown Los Angeles.

    Amour Vert will lease space in the New Mart, an historic building at 127 E. 9th St. housing contemporary clothing showrooms and the twice-yearly Designers and Agents trade show. Other brands at the New Mart include Lacoste, UGG, Hudson Jeans, Blue Pacific Fashion and Barbour.

    In addition to the move of its headquarters, Amour Vert also announced a rebranding in partnership with global design agency, Malherbe Paris.

    Dominique Mikolajczak, chief executive of Amour Vert, said that the rebrand “marks a central milestone for the company, reinforcing its commitment to ethical fashion, premium quality and sustainability.

    “With our expanded presence, new headquarters, and refreshed identity and design direction we look forward to engaging with and delighting our customers in new ways and continuing to lead the charge in delivering stylish, eco-conscious alternatives to the fashion industry,” Mikolajczak said in a statement.

    The rebrand coincides with the opening of retail locations at 2nd and PCH, a retail center at 6440 E. Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach early last month; at the Irvine Spectrum Center at 670 Spectrum Center Drive in Irvine in late April; and at Westfield UTC San Diego at 4545 La Jolla Village Drive in San Diego this month.

    According to the company website, there is also a store set to open in Manhattan Beach.

    Malherbe’s has worked on the company’s logo as well as the design of its new stores.

    Hubert de Malherbe, founder and chief executive of Malherbe, said that when living in a fast fast-paced world, where it is a challenge for brands to stay loyal to their core values, maintaining innovation, quality, style and comfort was the most important thing for his company to do in their partnership with Amour Vert.

    “We have imagined the new rebranding to cohabite with the new store design as well as the brand’s 360-degree online expression – seamless, sharp, modern – both digitally and physically,” Malherbe said in a statement. “The team and I are very proud of this exceptional partnership; the journey the brand has taken towards the future and the result we have achieved.” 

    Amour Vert’s brand identity has undergone an evolution, culminating in the unveiling of a new logo that marks a significant shift for the brand.

    Its sustainable practices address all aspects of its business operations and the full lifecycle of the garments it makes: the fibers and production processes used, how workers are treated, how it gets to the consumer, and finally, whether it can be recycled or is forced into a landfill, according to the company’s website.

    To keep old clothing items from being tossed away, Amour Vert created ReAmour, its resale marketplace, where customers can browse, buy, and sell pre-worn styles.

    And for every Amour Vert T-shirt purchased, Amour Vert is planting a tree in North America through its partnership with American Forests, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit. Since 2013, the company has planted more than 373,000 trees.

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    Hannah Madans Welk

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  • FTC to Return Money to Opendoor’s California Customers

    FTC to Return Money to Opendoor’s California Customers

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    Homeowners who sold their properties to Opendoor Labs could get money from a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over deceptive marketing tactics, the agency announced April 3.

    The nearly 2,500 people who sold to Opendoor in California could qualify for a median refund of $1,553 because the company “tricked them into thinking that they could make more money selling their home to Opendoor than on the open market,” the Orange County Register reported.

    Opendoor’s marketing pitch was that homeowners could save money in the selling process by foregoing the expenses of fixing, listing and showing their home, instead selling it directly to Opendoor on the company’s app. The owner would receive a cash offer after the company’s algorithm determined the home’s value.

    But the FTC found a majority of sellers would have been better off marketing their homes the regular way. 

    “Most people who sold to Opendoor made thousands of dollars less than they would have made selling their homes using the traditional process, and many paid more in costs than what sellers typically pay,” the FTC said in a statement.

    Opendoor was one of the so-called iBuyer companies that plied the California market before and during the pandemic. In March 2019, Opendoor, RedfinNow, Offerpad and Zillow Offers were active in the market.

    In the spring of 2021, those four companies paid a total $512 million to buy 789 houses in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to a Zillow study cited by the Register.

    In the settlement with Opendoor, the company is prohibited from making deceptive or unsubstantiated claims to consumers. Also, the FTC will spend $4 million from the settlement to compensate 2,472 buyers in California. The California distribution comes eight months after the FTC and Opendoor agreed to a settlement.

    — Joel Russell

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    TRD Staff

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  • Unlearn.AI Moves to Larger SF Offices Ahead of Hiring Spree

    Unlearn.AI Moves to Larger SF Offices Ahead of Hiring Spree

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    Unlearn.AI has moved its headquarters into larger San Francisco offices in anticipation of employee growth.

    The locally based artificial intelligence startup relocated last month after it signed a lease for 17,700 square feet of offices at 303 Second Street, in SoMa, the San Francisco Business Times reported. 

    Terms of the lease from Los Angeles-based Kilroy Realty were not disclosed. JLL represented both sides in the leasing deal.

    Unlearn, founded seven years ago, develops AI technology to speed the process of bringing new drugs and medicines to market. 

    Its lease marks the latest expansion of AI firms in San Francisco, a rare bright spot among the city’s hollowed out offices, now 35.9 percent vacant.

    Unlearn, whose former hub took up 3,500 square feet at 75 Hawthorne Street, not far from its new headquarters, outgrew the space.

    The startup, which completed a $50 million fundraising round this month, wants to expand its workforce from 75 to more than 100 workers this year, according to CEO Charles Fisher.

    The company moved out of its last headquarters before its lease expired next year to make room for the expected growth and a return-to-office by employees. The firm plans to put its former offices up for sublease.

    “We are growing, not just overall headcount, but the number of people close to the headquarters that can come into the office,” Fisher told the Business Times.

    AI companies such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Anthropic leased more than 1 million square feet of offices in San Francisco in the first 11 months of last year, a 50 percent increase from 2022, according to JLL. The total volume rose to 3.6 million square feet by year’s end.

    The AI boom is a boon to the South of Market neighborhood, which has emptied out as many companies consolidated their offices Downtown, and where the office sector has some of the city’s highest vacancies, especially subleases. 

    Smaller AI tenants continue to fuel demand for offices in San Francisco, John Roskos of JLL, who represented Unlearn in the lease, told the Business Times.

    The two buildings at 303 Second, containing 783,700 square feet of offices, include such tenants as Reddit and DoorDash. It was 71.1 percent leased in December, according to a regulatory filing.

    — Dana Bartholomew

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    TRD Staff

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