Hardware & Robotics Space in San Francisco: A Tenant’s Guide (2026)

Write a one-page operating brief

A useful brief fits on one page: people on site, equipment, activities, materials, deliveries, working hours, target operating date, and budget. Separate what must work on day one from what you hope to add later. A software-heavy robotics team and a pilot-production team may need very different facilities at the same funding stage.

Sketch the space in zones. Include desks, meeting space, benches, the robot’s full testing envelope, parts storage, battery charging, receiving, and circulation. Do not allocate the entire advertised area to production. Offices, stairs, columns, mezzanines, and shared building areas change the usable footprint.

• Send Sam your requirements

Power: ask for the allocation, voltage, and phase

There is no universal amperage requirement for a robotics startup. Power-intensive manufacturing can narrow the search sharply. As a scale example outside Onshore’s core geography, JLL’s CherryPoint listing in Newark advertises 3,200 amps with expansion potential up to 8,000 amps. That is a specific facility’s marketing claim, not a minimum for a small hardware team or confirmation of delivered capacity.

• Record each machine’s electrical requirements and expected simultaneous operation. Give the schedule to an electrician or electrical engineer.
• Request service voltage, phase, panel schedules, and the capacity allocated to the specific unit. Separate building service from tenant capacity.
• Ask whether the service exists and is energized. A proposed upgrade needs a defined scope, responsible party, cost, and utility schedule.
• Check installation routes, transformer or switchgear needs, and who owns the improvements when the lease ends.

Sources: JLL: CherryPoint advanced-manufacturing listing in Newark

Screen the physical constraints before touring

PDR is an address-specific question

Production, Distribution and Repair districts protect industrial activities in San Francisco, but the label does not approve every startup activity. Planning classifies the actual use, not the company’s industry or its pitch deck. Desk-heavy engineering, a testing laboratory, assembly, customer demonstrations, and retail sales may raise different questions.

Check the address in the Property Information Map, then ask Planning about the operation and the unit’s existing approvals. Include special districts, interim controls, and any proposed changes. Get landlord approval and a clear permitting path before making an unconditional commitment.

Sources: SF Planning: zoning and address lookup

• Read the PDR zoning guide

Choose the submarket around the operation

Sources: American Industrial Center: buildings and facilitiesSF General Plan: Showplace Square / Potrero

• Dogpatch guide
• South SF spaces
• Brisbane spaces

Compare the commitment before the rent

A lower base rent can lose its advantage when you add electrical work, ventilation, moving equipment twice, or months before production starts. Put each candidate on the same worksheet: monthly rent, recurring expenses, tenant-funded work, deposit, move, and rent paid before the operation is ready.

Ask for a work letter that names the delivery condition, approvals, responsibilities, deadlines, and allowance reimbursement terms. Have counsel address permitted use, restoration, assignment, subletting, and personal guarantees. A useful shortlist contains spaces whose unanswered questions can be resolved before signing.

• Calculate occupancy costs
• Compare five industrial spaces

Common questions

Keep reading

• PDR Zoning in San Francisco: What Tenants Can and Can’t Do
• Office & Industrial Space by Startup Stage: Seed to Series B
• How Long Does It Take to Lease Office or Industrial Space in SF?
• Occupancy cost calculator
• All leasing guides and tools