Amazon to Pause Bellevue Towers to Study Impact of Hybrid Working on Its Offices, Still Forecasting 25,000 Jobs – GeekWire
Citing continued uncertainty about the impact of hybrid working on its office design, Amazon announces that it will suspend construction of five towers in downtown Bellevue, Wash., and that it will suspend , for now, the construction of a sixth new tower in the city.
The company says it wants to determine how its office floor plans need to change before proceeding.
The decision underscores the dynamic and uncertain status of the tech industry’s return to the office as the pandemic wanes. Some companies are seeing employees continue to work from home more than expected, forcing them to reconsider their combination of private offices and shared workspaces, at a minimum.
Amazon says it still plans to eventually employ 25,000 people in the city east of Seattle, where the company has announced plans to focus most of its future growth in what it sees as the region from its headquarters in Puget Sound.
The company provided this statement from John Schoettler, its vice president of global real estate and facilities.
“The pandemic has dramatically changed the way people work. For our business and technology roles, we’ve adopted a hybrid model that provides employees with increased flexibility – each team decides what balance of working in the office and working remotely is right for them. We’re just getting started, and like many businesses, we’re still learning how these new habits can impact our office footprint. Our offices are long-term investments and we want to make sure we design them to meet the future needs of our employees. As we continue to learn, we are pausing construction to re-evaluate the design of some of our projects in Bellevue. This does not affect our plans to create more than 25,000 jobs in the city, nor our commitment to continue investing and engaging with the community, including providing affordable housing and supporting nonprofits. local.
In response to questions from GeekWire, an Amazon spokesperson said the company is not currently considering canceling any leases. The company currently has approximately 10,000 corporate and technical employees in seven offices in Bellevue.
The company says it will complete the core and outer shell (in addition to the lobby floors, common areas, and retail spaces) before pausing construction on these buildings:
- Rounds 2 and 3 to west hand, a three-building, half-block project at 117 106th Avenue NE, developed by Vulcan Real Estate. (Amazon says it will fully complete Tower 1 in West Main).
- 555Tower, at 555 108th Street, a 42-story, 1 million square foot project that Vulcan Real Estate is building and leasing to Amazon. The company says it will complete the lower working floors (up to the 19th floor) at 555Tower. The building was previously scheduled to be completed and occupied in 2023.
- The artist, at 788 106th Ave NE, a planned 600,000 square foot, 25-story building leased to Schnitzer West. Its opening was scheduled for 2024.
- The 43-story Tower 1 at Bellevue 600, a project that is expected to be the hub of Amazon’s Bellevue operations.
The 3.5-acre Bellevue 600 site stretches from 110th Avenue NE to 108th Avenue NE near the Bellevue Transit Center and a future Link Light Rail stop. Amazon delays construction of 31-story Tower 2 at Bellevue 600 for now
Amazon does not provide a timetable for suspending or eventually restarting work on the Bellevue Towers, or say how the decision will affect planned occupancy dates.
The decision to suspend construction was reported earlier today by the Puget Sound Business Journal.