Facebook joins Amazon in Bellevue as Eastside boom continues
Aug 30, 2019, 6:56 AM | Updated: 9:42 am
Bellevue's growth in the tech sector continues. (Sounder Bruce, Flickr Creative Commons)
(Sounder Bruce, Flickr Creative Commons)
While Amazon continues to build a massive presence in Bellevue, it appears as though another tech giant has entered the game as well.
Seattle bracing for thousands of Expedia workers headed to Interbay
According to documents acquired by the Puget Sound Business Journal, Facebook has leases signed for a pair of office building’s in Bellevue’s Spring District. The company will occupy the Block 16 and Block 24 buildings, with leases signed in January and March of 2019 respectively.
Block 16 — opening in January 2020 — contains 316,000 square feet of office space spread across 11 floors, as well as 13,000 square feet of retail space. Block 24 will open in early 2021, featuring over 166,000 square feet of office space.
Facebook currently has over 3,000 employees in Seattle. It’s unclear whether its inroads into Bellevue will represent a move for those current employees, or expanded space for new ones.
With light rail on the way to the Spring District as well, this represents an infusion of commerce and transit for the Eastside, as it continues developing into major hub in the Puget Sound region.
Meanwhile, Amazon still plans to construct Bellevue’s largest office tower yet. The 43-story building will be dubbed “Bellevue 600,” located on the east half of the Bellevue Corporate Plaza. Amazon purchased the property in April for $650 million.
Amazon planning to build tallest tower yet in Bellevue
Amazon has roughly seven spaces in Bellevue it either plans to move into, or is already occupying. In addition to Bellevue 600, that includes a lease on the 15-story Binary Towers, Bellevue Corporate Plaza, WeWork space at Summit II, permits for Summit III, the former Expedia headquarters at Tower 333, and current employees at Centre 425.
All that could eventually provide enough space for over 11,000 employees by 2024, although Amazon has yet to confirm that figure. Past estimates for the company’s Bellevue presence have ranged from 10,000 to as many as 25,000.
Employees from Amazon’s worldwide operations team began moving to the Eastside in April. The company already had roughly 2,000 employees in Expedia’s former Bellevue corporate headquarters, and still has plans to move another 4,500 workers into that building by 2020.
