Anthropic Leases Entire 300 Howard Street - A Clear Signal for CRE and Construction in San Francisco
DivcoWest and Blackstone Real Estate secured a full-building lease with Anthropic at 300 Howard Street, a 466,000-square-foot, 25-story office tower in San Francisco. Anthropic also leased 342 Howard, a historic 18,000-square-foot building. The properties are owned and managed by a joint venture between DivcoWest and Blackstone Real Estate.
It's one of the largest office commitments in the city's history and anchors Anthropic in "AI Alley," the downtown corridor that's concentrating top AI firms and talent. Anthropic currently has teams at 500 and 505 Howard and will centralize its presence around the Transbay/South Financial District node.
"With over 1,300 employees in the Bay Area and counting, I'm especially excited about what this growth means for the local community," said Daniela Amodei, president and co-founder of Anthropic. DivcoWest's Gregg Walker added that the full-building commitment reinforces confidence in San Francisco's future, while Blackstone's David Levine noted AI's role in driving demand and office utilization.
Why this deal matters for owners, developers, GCs, and trades
- Demand is consolidating around AI and high-growth tech tenants that want control, security, and scale. Full-building leases give them identity, privacy, and scheduling control.
- Expect higher-intensity TI programs: expanded electrical capacity, robust cooling, redundant fiber, secure floors, training/event spaces, and heavy conference density.
- Location is an amenity. Proximity to transit, park space, and food/retail shortens commutes and encourages in-office work.
- Leasing velocity in the Transbay/South FiDi cluster improves comps and underwriting confidence for nearby assets with a credible upgrade path.
- Owners that can deliver move-in timelines, flexible stacking plans, and modern systems will win the next wave of deals.
Asset notes that move the needle
- 300 Howard: flexible floorplates, Bay views, Class A profile, and a prime South Financial District address.
- Directly alongside Salesforce Park atop the Transit Center - a five-acre elevated park with a half-mile walking loop. More on the Transit Center here: Salesforce Transit Center.
- Seamless regional connectivity via bus and light rail lines strengthens recruiting radius and office attendance.
- 342 Howard adds a historic 18,000-square-foot building - a useful canvas for client experience, executive space, or specialized program areas.
Practical next steps (if you own, operate, or build in core San Francisco submarkets)
- Audit building systems now: electrical capacity, risers, switchgear, cooling redundancy, outside air, and after-hours flexibility.
- Pre-negotiate fiber diversity and roof/IDF/MDF standards with carriers; AI tenants expect low-latency, multi-path connectivity.
- Spec for speed: pre-approved typical details, pre-selected finishes, and a permitting playbook to compress TI timelines.
- Security by design: elevator access control, destination dispatch, hardened server/meeting rooms, visitor management, and data privacy protocols.
- Wellness and productivity: quiet zones, focus rooms, daylighting, acoustic treatment, and immediate access to outdoor space.
- Sustainability and code: plan for electrification, smart metering, and efficient plant upgrades that lower OpEx and support tenant ESG reporting.
Brokerage and capital markets takeaways
- Cluster effect is real. Target AI firms that want adjacency to peers, transit, and amenities within the Transbay/South FiDi grid.
- Package deals around certainty: delivery schedules, phased occupancy options, expansion rights, and swing space solutions.
- Lean on credit strength plus long-term growth narratives to support financing, recapitalizations, and capex plans.
- Spec suites that anticipate higher density and collaboration space can shorten sales cycles and reduce decision risk.
Construction and TI implications
- MEP is the critical path. Early load studies, heat-rejection strategies, and equipment lead-time management reduce delays.
- Plan for adaptable floors: demountable systems, modular conference rooms, and flexible ceiling/plenum strategies.
- Night and weekend work will likely be required to meet occupancy targets; coordinate labor scheduling and logistics early.
Who touched the deal
DivcoWest and Perform Properties (Blackstone's retail and office portfolio company) worked with JLL's Chris Roeder (Vice Chairman), Ted Davies (Senior Managing Director), and Carlye Parker (Senior Vice President) to represent ownership. JLL's Felipe Gomez-Kraus and John Diepenbrock represented Anthropic.
What to watch next
- More clustering around "AI Alley," pulling demand to high-amenity blocks near the Transit Center and Salesforce Park.
- Elevated TI scopes as AI tenants refine office footprints for deep work, training, and high-security collaboration.
- Spillover benefits for nearby assets that can match speed-to-occupancy and system performance expectations.
Useful resource for CRE teams adopting AI
If you're building internal AI capability for leasing, underwriting, or project delivery workflows, this directory of role-based programs can help: AI courses by job.
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