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Software corporation Oracle Corp. is taking steps to slash its Massachusetts real estate footprint with plans to vacate three of the four buildings on its Burlington campus totaling 376,000 square feet.
A commercial real estate source said the company appears to be planning to consolidate its remaining office footprint at 8 Van de Graaff Drive, which is owned by the Austin, Texas-based tech giant. The campus off Middlesex Turnpike has been the hub of Oracle’s Bay State workforce for decades.
The company recently listed sublease space at 4 and 6 Van de Graaff Drive, totaling 96,000 and 128,000 square feet respectively. Another 152,000 square feet is offered for lease at 10 Van de Graaff Drive, which also is owned by Oracle.
Oracle did not respond to messages seeking comment. The company announced a hybrid work policy in 2022 as it reopened its offices following the pandemic.
Oracle appears like it will keep 8 Van de Graaff Drive as its main Boston-area office, according to CoStar, which first reported the news. The company also is downsizing its real estate footprint in the Denver area, Silicon Valley and Southern California.
The pullback deals another blow to the suburban office market following Eastern Bank’s decision to reduce its office footprint north of Boston by 73 percent, consolidating with a new lease at The Edge office park in Wakefield. At the end of the third quarter, the north suburban office market had an availability rate of 22 percent, according to CBRE.
Oracle’s pullback already is factoring into Burlington’s debate over a long-debated mixed-use zoning plan for the Mall Road corridor. The district between Route 3 and Middlesex Turnpike includes more than 8 million square feet of commercial space, including office parks owned by National Development, Griffith Properties and Gutierrez Cos.
At a Burlington Planning Board meeting this week, Select Board Vice Chair Michael Espejo offered his “full support” of the latest rezoning plan that could allow development of approximately in 750 multifamily housing units.
“Our office vacancy rate is the highest it’s ever been, and it’s only going up,” Espejo said. “It’s a whole new world out there as far as working from home, working remote and filling office space.”
