We checked out the neighborhood where Amazon is building a new 43-story tower in Bellevue, its tallest office building yet
Amazon was originally founded out of CEO Jeff Bezos' home in Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle. Bezos decided early on to move the company into Seattle proper in order to appeal to younger tech workers.
Now, things are coming full circle, with Amazon signaling that it's investing in Bellevue in a major way as it looks to house its growing workforce.
Amazon's new tower is planned to be complete by 2024. The Seattle Times estimates that across all of Amazon's properties in Bellevue, there will be enough space for more than 11,000 employees by the time it's done beefing up its presence there.
Source: Seattle Times
Amazon already has four properties leased in Bellevue that comprise a million square feet of office space, to house the 700 employees already in the city. This is one of them.
Source: Seattle Times
Next up, Amazon plans to relocate its entire Seattle-based worldwide operations team to Bellevue.
Source: GeekWire
To that end, Amazon will build an office on 600 108th Ave. N.E. in Bellevue. Amazon paid $194.9 million for this property.
Source: GeekWire
Right now, the property is already home to a 10-story office building called Bellevue Corporate Plaza.
It's expected to stay intact.
The property also includes a two-story parking structure.
But behind Bellevue Corporate Plaza, Amazon plans to build a 43-story tower, its tallest building, which could potentially have 4,200 employees. Right now, that area is still a parking lot.
The property is right across from the Bellevue Transit Center, which could make it convenient for public transit commuters.
It's also off Interstate 405, which could make it convenient for drivers, too.
It's common to see electric bikes, rented from the startup Lime, on the sidewalk outside.
Here's what the neighborhood looks like from Bellevue Corporate Plaza.
It's right across from Starbucks, which originated in Seattle.
In fact, it's across the street from this second Starbucks, too.
It's across from restaurants like Gyro Express and Blazing Bagels, as well as an LA Fitness gym.
There's also a Starzz convenience store and a Jimmy John's.
It's also across from Bellevue's City Center.
Nearby, there are skyscrapers for tech companies like Symetra and Salesforce — reflecting the fact that the Seattle metro area is only getting more important in the tech ecosystem.
Concur, owned by German software giant SAP, is also nearby.
On the other side, Amazon's new property is across from a European-style shopping center called The Bravern.
It includes high-end stores like Prada, Hermes, Gucci, and Tory Burch.
Its rival, Microsoft, also has a building close by, right across the street — meaning that things are going to get cozier between the two companies in Bellevue.
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