AI companies have leased 1 million square feet of San Francisco office space since 2020. But with about 30 percent of existing leases due to expire by the end of 2025, AI alone will not be enough to save the city’s office market, according to a new report from CompStak and Savills.

CompStak has very accurate information and is able to share specifics on each deal, unlike some other data providers that anonymize and average it. The data they have is so valuable that it might be able to be the basis for a lot of other tools.

CompStak’s more than 35,000 members deliver authenticated data encompassing all of the U.S. for CRE professionals that include appraisers, brokers and investors.

“My sense is that the financial services industry remains the backbone of New York’s economy and office market, and will continue to do so,” said Alie Bauman, a CompStak economist. “While FIRE’s totals are down, just as leasing is overall for office space, FIRE is accounting for a higher share of activity than it did historically, and it seems to me that would be a brighter spot if you’re an office landlord.”

In Chicago, Workbox filled 29K SF of a former 112K SF WeWork at 125 S. Clark St., according to lease data provided by CompStak.

CompStak’s analysis of office leases signed from 2018 to the first quarter of 2024 in four major U.S. office markets – Manhattan, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago – found a preference for higher floors, underscoring the often-mentioned post-COVID flight-to-quality trend.