Autodesk to close San Rafael headquarters
Summary
The design software company, one of Marin’s most successful startups, notified the state Employment Development Department of its plans “as a courtesy and in an abundance of caution” in an Aug. 15 letter. “The majority of our global team falls within the hybrid category, meaning they split their time between their homes and local, commutable Autodesk offices,” Garofalo said. It’s like losing a good neighbor.” Autodesk was launched in 1982 by 13 programmers who pooled about $60,000 of their own money and worked out of co-founder John Walker’s two-bedroom home in Mill Valley. Autodesk stated in its 2022 annual report that “the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred changes in the way we work as we move to a more hybrid workforce resulting in an evaluation of our office space needs.” Accordingly, the report said, Autodesk planned to reduce its facilities portfolio worldwide and had incurred “impairment and accelerated depreciation charges of $103.7 million to assets associated with its operating leases for real estate during the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022.” In finance, an impairment is defined as a permanent reduction in the value of a company asset. Ongaro said office space left behind when Lucasfilm Ltd. moved to the Presidio in 2005 and Glassdoor exited Mill Valley for San Francisco last year has also been filled.