- In April, Amazon purchased property at 600 108th Ave. N.E. in Bellevue, Washington, where Amazon will build its tallest tower.
- This tower, which will be completed by 2024, will be 43 stories high and will be able to hold an estimated 4,200 employees.
- Amazon has been leasing more property in Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle where Amazon plans to move its entire worldwide operations organization.
- Business Insider walked around the surrounding neighborhood to see what it looks like.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Amazon was originally founded by CEO Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle.
But soon, Bezos moved its headquarters to Seattle to provide an urban environment for its young tech workers. Now, Amazon is inching its way back to its original home city. Amazon is already planning to move its entire worldwide operations organization, which is responsible for most customer orders, to Bellevue, GeekWire reported.
Right now in Bellevue, Washington, Amazon has four buildings leased, and in April, it just bought another piece of property for $194.9 million. This property is at 600 108th Ave. N.E.
Right now, there’s a 10-story corporate building there called Bellevue Corporate Plaza, and it will stay in tact. Behind it, Amazon plans to build its tallest tower, the Seattle Times reported. This tower will be 43 stories high, and the Seattle Times estimates it can hold 4,200 employees.
Amazon's existing offices in Bellevue total about 1.8 million square feet. By the time Amazon completes its tower in 2024, the Seattle Times estimates that Bellevue will be able to have 11,000 employees.
Amazon declined to comment on its plans for the building.
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.
