What does the future hold for Bellevue’s upcoming office projects?

It seems the uncertainties of the pandemic have not completely faded for local tech companies. Despite reopening offices and enticing employees back to campus with new flexible arrangements, Amazon has stated that the return to office has been slower than initially anticipated. Because of this, the company has decided to pause some of its construction efforts in Bellevue, which is set to become an integral part of its Puget Sound regional headquarters.

Amazon has not yet revealed how or when they plan to restart construction, citing the need to reevaluate the needs of their floorplans and layout before completing construction on several projects. However, it still plans to eventually employ up to 25,000 people in the area and has not yet canceled any leases or planned projects.

Currently, Amazon still plans to fully complete the 43-story Tower 1 at West Main in Bellevue. The cores, exterior shells and lobbies, retail areas and communal spaces of Towers 2 and 3 will be completed as well, before Amazon pauses construction to reevaluate the floorplans.

Amazon also paused construction on its one-million-square-foot project, 555Tower. Similar to the Towers at West Main, the company will complete the lobby, communal areas and core, in addition to the lower working spaces up to the 19th floor.

The company is also pausing its development of the leased Artiste building in Bellevue, which had been scheduled to open in 2024. The 43-story Tower 1 at Bellevue 600 has been paused, and Amazon is holding off on beginning construction of the 31-story Tower 2 at Bellevue 600.

Many of these projects were set to open and begin occupancy within the next two years, but Amazon has not yet stated how this pause in construction will affect those timelines or its plans to continue to expand in the area.

Information for this article was sourced from GeekWire and BisNow.

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