Construction Begins on Google’s Massive Seattle campus in Amazon’s Backyard

Google’s New Campus – Established by Paul Allen - Vulcan Read Estate

Works has begun on the new campus of Google in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighbourhood, on the outskirts of global headquarters of Amazon. The project is being established by Vulcan Real Estate of Paul Allen and tends to span two whole blocks and would comprise of office space of around 600,000 square feet, together with residential tower on every block with a combined 149 units according to Lori Mason Curran investment strategy director of Vulcan Real Estate.

Commencement of the work had started earlier in the month on the project that had been announced last year which will be reaching completion in early 2019. Vulcan also tends to have an adjacent block which is not a portion of the project of Google. According to Mason Curran, the site is intended for 216 residential units and 161,000 square feet of office space. It is said that Vulcan would not begin this block till it lands a tenant.

The main player for long has been Amazon in South Lake Union. However, the entry of Google in the neighbourhood down the road together with the rapidly growing presence for Facebook should provide plenty of competition for top talent.

Structure – Begin in Phases 2017 - 2019

Presently, Seattle area footprint of Google comprises of offices in the Fremont neighbourhood and the Eastside suburb of Kirkland, Wash. It is uncertain what Google intends to do with its Fremont space when the new Seattle campus seems to be ready. However at the moment, investing in the neighbourhood, Google had signed a deal, earlier this year to sublease the former sound Mind & Body Gym space in 2014 that Tableau had altered into around 50,000 square feet of tech office space, for its engineering team.

The structure would begin in phases from 2017 and would complete in 2019. According to an official from Vulcan, Google has agreed to leases which would be lasting 14 to 16 years, a new sign of its long-term commitment to the Seattle region. Joined with the recently expanded offices in Kirkland, Wash of Google, the technology giant would be approaching 1 million square feet in the area with this latest space. Presently Google tends to have over 1,900 employees in Washington State, in offices in Seattle and Kirkland.

South Lake Union – Thriving Hub

Google would be moving from its present location in Seattle’s Fremont neighbourhood, wherein the space had been constrained in recent years considering the rapid expansion of Tableau Software together with the other technology companies. Clyde McQueen, site Lead for Google Seattle had mentioned in a news release that South Lake Union is a thriving hub and they were excited for the new space. They loved being in the Fremont neighbourhood though would need more breathing space.

They are yet to catch a view of Lake Union, from the new location. Besides providing a bigger footprint for Google in the city, the news is prominent since Amazon is not the one taking the building and Vulcan had established the online retailer’s prevailing campus in the South Lake Union neighbourhood. More focus has been done by Amazon on its expansion in the neighbourhood towards the south where it is rolling its own three block campus on the northern outskirts of downtown Seattle.