LinkedIn buys Sunnyvale tech office for more than $70 million in cash

SUNNYVALE — LinkedIn has paid more than $70 million to buy a big office building in Sunnyvale, offering a sign of confidence in Silicon Valley despite uncertainties and job cuts in the tech industry.

The career-oriented social network paid $75.2 million for an office and research building at 1022 West Maude Avenue in Sunnyvale, according to documents filed on April 9 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.

LinkedIn bought the building from Synopsys, another tech company that was no longer occupying the space.

Fresh signs have emerged lately to hint at a possible recovery in the Silicon Valley office market.

For more than a year, sky-high vacancies, slumping rents, and a nosedive in property values have haunted the South Bay office sector at a time when tech companies have shed jobs in the Bay Area.

The two-story building that LinkedIn bought totals 120,000 square feet and occupies a nearly seven-acre parcel, according to the Property Shark commercial real estate database.

LinkedIn bought the office building, which was constructed in 2001, through an all-cash deal, the county documents show.

Some tech companies such as Nvidia have been in expansion mode in the South Bay of late.

Despite these and other hopeful signs, huge amounts of office space are still being offered for sublease by tech companies that seek to downsize.