New Seattle Expedia headquarters in Interbay opens

Interbay residents in Seattle are likely starting to feel the rumblings as a portion of Expedia’s 4,500 employees will start work and christen the new headquarters in their neighborhood Monday morning.

The move was announced more than four years ago, and those that wondered what will happen to the neighborhood will get a better idea on Monday when the campus opens. It’s situated in the old Amgen property along Elliott Avenue, regularly used by approximately 38,000 vehicles.

Seattle bracing for thousands of Expedia workers headed to Interbay

Expedia employees won’t be getting spheres like Amazon employees, but the refurbished biotechnology building is decorated like an upscale hotel, with pendant lamps, fluid workspaces, multiple views of the Puget Sound, and even fake wi-fi rocks strewn about the grounds, meant to encourage employees to explore the 40-acre campus, reports The Seattle Times.

Monday will see a portion of Expedia’s employees settle in, with the rest of the 4,500 are expected to make the transition by February. The campus has room for another 1,800; a spokesperson told the Times it could nearly double the local staff by 2031.

“Any time you are going to bring 4,000 or 5,000 or however many new commuters into town, we want to make sure that those developments understand what impacts they are going to make to the system,” Seattle’s director of mobility Heather Marx told MyNorthwest recently.

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The company says it’s committed to reducing single-occupancy driving as a means of mitigating the impact of the move on the surrounding area. This includes four shuttles, paying employees who don’t drive $5/day, free use of buses and light rail, and charging employees who drive alone to work $16/day to park on-site.

That said, the campus does include a six-story parking garage with 2,300 spaces, so they don’t seem too convinced that all employees will take the bait and give up their cars. The city of Seattle expects an additional 2,900 car trips into the city as a result of the new Expedia campus.

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