My name is Brian Biege; I am the most recent member of the Downtown Bellevue Network team. My mission is to provide YOU with the most up to date and relevant insight into the commercial real estate market in Downtown Bellevue. I will cover topics such as tenant relocations, updates on development projects and proposed buildings, ownership changes in the market as well as statistical office market trends. As for me, I am a commercial real estate broker at CB Richard Ellis, specializing in office and industrial properties in Bellevue and the greater Eastside. My knowledge and expertise have been cultivated during my time as a research analyst for CBRE, and now as an active broker Downtown. Any feedback is always appreciated, any questions are recommended and of course any leads or referrals are valued.
Heads-Up
Over the last twelve months, Downtown Bellevue is quickly evolving into one of the most dynamic cities on the West Coast; once a dull suburb of Seattle, DB is emerging not only as a premier place to work, but to live and play as well. However, the city’s profile is far from complete, with extensive mixed use, office and residential projects currently under construction or still in the planning stages preparing to break ground. This, combined with the 130,000 and 150,000 square foot planned expansions at Bellevue Square and Washington Square, is helping to shape DB into the next major hub of the Puget Sound region.
The Pulse
There are three class A office buildings totaling over 1.7 million square feet under construction. Tower 333, recently renamed the Expedia Tower, as Expedia recently announced its relocation to the Bellevue CBD and will occupy over ¾ of the building, consists of 400,000 square feet. The Bravern, another high profile mixed use development consisting of 750,000 square feet which Microsoft has leased in its entirety, is scheduled to be completed during the 4th quarter of 2008. Finally, City Center II, located at NE 6th and 110th Ave NE, will consist of 572,000 square feet and should be delivered by the 2nd quarter of 2008. Currently, this high rise is the only building that has not been entirely pre-leased; although Dex and Sharebuilder have been rumored to be leasing a large portion of the space.
In addition, Downtown Bellevue has a variety of office and retail developments at the planning and permitting stages in the pipeline. The projects are highlighted by Bentall Capital, who is close to breaking ground on phase III of the Summit. The building would consist of 315,000 square feet of office space. In addition, Washington Square Phase II and 4 Bellevue Center, developed by SRO and located at NE 8th and 106th, would consist of over 1 million square feet of office product.
Overview
As the city, anchored by corporations such as Microsoft, Eddie Bauer, Drugstore.com, Oracle, and Symetra, continues to increase its footprint in the region, there is no doubt that we are seeing the infant stages of what this vibrant area will become. And with the additions of Yahoo, Neiman Marcus, Expedia.com and the planned expansion of Microsoft in the Bravern, it’s clear that DB is at the forefront of the Eastside revolution.
