SAN JOSE — Roku has decided to slash its office footprint in San Jose as it seeks to sublease two big office buildings at its headquarters campus near the city’s airport, regulatory and real estate documents show.
Internet company ByteDance, owner of the TikTok social network that hosts short-length videos, is in big-time hiring mode in San Jose and is deemed to be a likely candidate to sublease one or both of the Roku buildings, according to commercial property experts.
The maker of cutting-edge video streaming devices is seeking to reduce its office footprint, the company stated in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“In the third quarter of fiscal 2023 the company expects to record an impairment charge in a preliminary estimated range of $160 million to $200 million related to ceasing to use certain office facilities,” Roku stated in a Sept. 6 filing with the SEC.
At the same time as this disclosure, Roku is attempting to sublease two San Jose buildings that together total 357,100 square feet, according to marketing brochures distributed by Colliers, a commercial real estate firm.
Both of the office buildings are located within the Coleman Highline tech campus across the street from San Jose International Airport.
The buildings are located at 1155 Coleman Avenue, which is the current Roku headquarters building, and at 1143 Coleman Avenue.
The 1155 Coleman office building totals 194,500 square feet while the 1143 Coleman building totals 162,600 square feet, the Colliers brochure states. Two Colliers brokers, vice chair Paul McManus and vice president Blake Zamudio, are handling the sublease efforts.
It’s possible that Roku’s next-door neighbor in the Coleman Highline campus could wind up in one or both of the Roku offices.
In 2022, ByteDance subleased from Yahoo two office buildings at 1193 and 1199 Coleman Avenue. By early 2023, the company had moved into the buildings, which total 658,000 square feet.
China-based ByteDance is also in hiring mode locally. As of Wednesday, TikTok was seeking to fill 1,027 jobs in the San Jose market, according to the TikTok website.
At present, Roku uses the 1155 Coleman office building as its corporate headquarters, according to the regulatory filing.
The 1143 Coleman building has never been occupied, the Colliers marketing brochure states.
The office sublease efforts have materialized at a time when Roku revealed in an SEC filing this month that it had decided to chop 10% of its worldwide workforce.
These layoffs are just the latest in a series of employment cutbacks by Roku. Roku has disclosed plans to lay off 184 workers in San Jose in two prior rounds of staffing reductions.
In December 2022, Roku said it would cut 93 San Jose jobs and in March 2023, the company revealed plans for the elimination of another 91 positions in that city.
Over the one-year period that ended in June, Roku lost $660.6 million on revenue of $3.22 billion. During the 2022 calendar year, Roku lost $498 million on revenue of $3.13 billion.
