

With 11 years to go on the lease of its China Basin office headquarters at 185 Berry Street near AT&T Park, cloud storage pioneer Dropbox is looking to ditch the 200,000-square-foot space, subleasing it to other companies. The Business Times quotes a source as saying that Dropbox's “plan is to exit out of China Basin,” probably entirely.

Dropbox's health as a business was just this week used as a key barometer in a New York Times article ominously titled "Dizzying Ride May Be Ending for Tech Start-Ups." The paper's analysis drew in part on the company's devaluation by asset manager BlackRock, noting that such devaluations, like a recent one of Snapchat by another investment firm, are signs of more to come. In September, venture capital database CB Insights wrote that "The Dropbox Valuation Is Irrational," adding volume to murmured skepticism.

The new office plan for Dropbox is that early next year the company will consolidate operations at 333 and 345 Brannan, which were originally intended as "additional" space. It's still more space overall, though: a 300,000-square-foot campus.

"We're excited about our move to Brannan Street next year to help us bring together our fast-growing team in one place," the company wrote in response to Business Insider, who picked up the story. "We look forward to the upcoming move and expanding our presence in SOMA." Last year, TechCrunch glowed of the expansion to Brannan that "Dropbox should have room to house at least another year or two of swift growth." That growth might not proceed as swiftly as foretold, but the company will have room nonetheless.





The China Basin space is being released at $75 per square foot in annual rent. That could make for some income, if the offices are snatched up as expected. But perhaps it won't add up to enough revenue to justify Dropbox's valuation in the eyes of CB Insights, which is $1.4 billion.

No word, incidentally, on whether or not the above Doctor Who prop will survive the move.

Previously: Is Silicon Valley Simply Too Young To Remember The Last Bubble Bursting?