Amazon is moving 2,000 office employees from Seattle to Bellevue into two office towers. Costar News, a commercial real estate website, first reported the news.
Vulcan Real Estate’s 555 Tower is one of the two office buildings where Amazon employees will be moving into this fall. The first 19 floors out of the 42-story tower have been completed. Work on the interior of the remaining floors remains paused.
The other building that 1,000 Amazon employees are planned to move into is West Main Tower 1 in coming months.
In July 2022, Amazon announced that they had made a decision to pause construction on Bellevue 600’s second tower, while the exterior shell and core work for Tower 1 at Bellevue 600, 555 Tower, Towers 2 and 3 of West Main, and The Artise will be completed.
Amazon’s previous decision to pause construction does not affect hiring. According to the tech company, they are still fulfilling their pledge to have 25,000 employees in Bellevue.
John Schoettler, Amazon’s vice president of global real estate and facilities, stated, “Our offices are long-term investments and we want to make sure that we design them in a way that meets our employees’ needs in the future. As we continue to learn, we’re pausing construction to reevaluate the design of some of our projects in Bellevue. This doesn’t affect our plans to bring more than 25,000 jobs to the city, or our commitment to continuing to invest in and engage with the community.” In July 2022, Amazon had almost 10,000 employees, with 2,000 open roles in Bellevue.
Broderick Group’s newly released third-quarter report discussed that the first Bellevue 600 tower, and the Artise, which is leased by Amazon, are expected to be completed in 2024.
The report also highlighted a growing trend: in-person office usage is on the rise. Hybrid work models are becoming the norm, with companies realizing that being in the office can boost productivity, collaboration, and cost-effectiveness. Amazon, for instance, now requires three days of in-person work, while Meta in The Spring District is following suit. The return-to-office mandate have has driven foot traffic and increased office use significantly, which could also boost the real estate market.
The third quarter of this year saw a flurry of significant lease signings, and there’s more to come before the year’s end, according to Broderick Group’s third quarter report. Notable deals include Warner Brothers Discovery securing 47,398 square feet at Civica Office Commons, Southern Wine Spirits taking up 38,232 square feet at One Bellevue Center, and, of course, ByteDance’s expansion at Key Center.
Why build when there is a commercial building glut from work from home.