Salesforce is putting more than 200,000 square feet of Tableau Software office space in the Seattle region up for sublease.
The decision comes after Salesforce said in January that it would reduce its real estate footprint as part of other cost-cutting moves.
Salesforce is subleasing the Data 1 Building in the Fremont neighborhood, which Tableau opened in 2018. The Seattle data visualization company was acquired by Salesforce a year later for $15.7 billion.
Salesforce is also subleasing space at Tableau’s Kirkland Urban office across Lake Washington.
“Tableau is a critical and thriving part of our business and we remain fully committed to our Seattle-based home and employees,” a Salesforce spokesperson said in a statement. “They will always have access to a vibrant office environment where they can connect with colleagues in the area.”
Tableau also has its NorthEdge headquarters building in Fremont. Salesforce declined to comment on whether that space is being subleased.
The Daily Journal of Commerce and Puget Sound Business Journal reported the news earlier this week.
Many tech companies are looking to downsize amid hybrid work policies and recent layoffs across the industry.
Sublease rates remain high in the Seattle commercial real estate market, at 18%, up from 16% in the fourth quarter, according to a report from Kidder Mathews.
“The regional office market is clearly struggling and highly volatile at present, particularly in Seattle,” the report said. “Looking forward, future office demand remains a big question.”
Salesforce announced a 10% workforce reduction in January and has shed more than 1 million square feet of space in San Francisco, where it is based.
Slack, another Salesforce subsidiary, said in February it was ditching its own HQ and moving into Salesforce Tower.
After the acquisition of Tableau, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said Seattle would become the company’s “HQ2,” betting on the region as a source of future hiring and growth. Tableau had grown to about 4,200 employees worldwide before it was acquired in 2020, with about half of them in the Seattle region.
The layoffs in January impacted many longtime Tableau employees and senior leaders.
The company’s former CEO, Mark Nelson, stepped down in December after two years.
Most of the Tableau executives listed on its leadership site when the acquisition was announced have left the company, Bloomberg reported.
Earlier this year a group of current and former Tableau employees gathered at a brewery near the company’s Fremont headquarters to reflect on the company’s 19-year journey. Some who attended the “Irish wake” noted a general sentiment that Tableau’s unique identity is becoming lost inside the customer relationship giant.
Salesforce has promised to continue developing Tableau’s technology.
Tableau reported $2.1 billion in revenue last year, up 9% from 2021. The company continues to face competition in the business intelligence software sector from Microsoft and others.
Prior to the recent cuts, Salesforce employed about 4,000 people in the Seattle area, including Tableau employees. The company did not provide an updated headcount.
Salesforce has its own office in downtown Bellevue, Wash.
