Akamai Terminates Lease With MIT and Relocates Headquarters

📅 March 21, 2002 - Akamai Technologies, Inc., an outsourced e-business infrastructure services and software provider, today announced an agreement to terminate its lease for office space at Technology Square in Cambridge, Mass. Relocating its corporate headquarters, Akamai (akamai.com) is taking advantage of market opportunities for commercial real estate. The company worked closely with MIT, the landlord for Technology Square, to facilitate the termination.

?We saw an excellent opportunity to relocate and significantly lower our operating costs,? said Paul Sagan, president of Akamai. ?We intend to take advantage of today's lower commercial lease rates to reduce operating expenses, possibly by as much as $8 million to $10 million annually starting in 2003, without interrupting our operations or inconveniencing our employees. We expect to announce our new headquarters location in the area within the next 90 days.?
Terminating leases for two buildings at 500 and 600 Technology Square, the company is paying a one-time termination fee to the landlord of $15 million for release from a total lease liability of over $110 million. The Technology Square office complex, located in the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, consists of multiple buildings with a total of more than one million square feet.
Akamai expects to complete a move to new headquarters this fall. Updated financial details associated with the move will be provided on the Company's next quarterly investor conference call in April.