AI Upstart Gobbles Two Floors In SoMa Landmark Tower

Reflection AI has locked down two full floors at 140 New Montgomery, the Art Deco tower in SoMa that has become something of a magnet for AI and data firms. The fresh lease tightens an already crowded roster of tech tenants and nudges the 26-story building closer to full capacity.

According to the San Francisco Business Times, the deal was disclosed today, covers two floors, and lifts occupancy at 140 New Montgomery to about 94%. Pembroke and CBRE were credited with steering the transaction.

Reflection is a research-first AI outfit launched in 2024 by former DeepMind researchers Ioannis Antonoglou and Misha Laskin, per Sequoia Capital. The company lists San Francisco among its offices and, on its careers page, makes a point of favoring in-person collaboration over fully remote work.

Owned and marketed by Pembroke, 140 New Montgomery has been reworked into a modern workplace with a private courtyard, end-of-trip facilities, and the ground-floor restaurant Mourad, according to the building's marketing materials. A June 2024 release from CBRE highlighted an earlier wave of roughly 55,900 square feet in new leases at the tower, and a subsequent major tenant leases piece tracked how that surge played into the broader office recovery narrative.

Why This Lease Matters For SoMa

Across San Francisco, new office activity has increasingly been driven by AI firms, which have accounted for a hefty share of the city’s biggest leases and helped chip away at availability, according to market reporting. Commercial Observer cites JLL data showing AI tenants as a leading force behind 2025 leasing momentum.

For a research-heavy company like Reflection, a central SoMa tower offers transit access, nearby talent, and the kind of amenities that make commuting a little less of a slog, a point the startup underscores on its careers page. The 140 New Montgomery brochure similarly leans into amenities and design as a way to coax engineers and researchers back to the office.

Industry brokers say the move fits a larger pattern of tenants chasing top-tier space while many older buildings sit on the sidelines. As Bill Cumbelich of CBRE put it in 2024, “140 New Montgomery has outperformed in the San Francisco office market over the past four years,” according to a CBRE release, and Reflection’s arrival looks like one more data point in that outperformance streak.