Amazon may have sent chills down the spines of some of Seattle’s city elders when it announced that it was looking to build a second headquarters somewhere else in North America. But since its announcement, the technology company has been taking large swaths of space in the city at breakneck speed. One more building that could bear the company’s logo very soon is Kilroy Realty’s 333 Dexter, the two 12-story towers project that will total 645,000 square feet when completed. The deal has not been finalized, according to several sources with knowledge of the negotiations, however, Amazon and Kilroy have reached an agreement on the terms and are looking for contract completion by the end of the year.
Kilroy’s representative Courtney Dolan said in an e-mailed statement that the company is “… talking to a number of companies across a wide array of industries that have expressed interest in 333 Dexter.” She confirmed that no agreement has been finalized with any of them, yet.
The Miller Hull Partnership-designed 333 Dexter is an innovative urban office campus located in the city’s South Lake Union neighborhood. The project is slated for completion in mid-2019 and is located on the former site of KING-TV’s broadcast studios surrounded by rapidly-growing tech and e-commerce companies as well as major life science and research organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, according to a statement from the company.
Construction on the project began in June of 2017, and it is led by San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders. The project is comprised of two, 12-floor towers totaling 645,000 square feet, including roughly 13,000 square feet of retail space. 333 Dexter encompasses an entire city block, and it features what the company calls a unique through-block design with almost 20,000 square feet of ground-floor, outdoor public space offering streetscape and connectivity to South Lake Union’s Dexter corridor.
At the breaking ground ceremony in June, John Kilroy, CEO & president of Kilroy Realty commented, “We are thrilled to be breaking ground on our first development in the Seattle market. Kilroy Realty is nationally recognized as a leader in providing dynamic workplace environments. 333 Dexter embodies our mission of creating places that support today’s modern workforce.”
According to Lisa Stewart, managing director of JLL in Seattle, who is leading the leasing initiative along with Cleita Harvey and Joe Gowan, the development will offer the largest newly-constructed floor plates in Seattle as well as top amenities.
In an earnings call earlier this year, Kilroy disclosed that it is spending approximately $370 million to develop the project. At the time, the development was on hold until the company saw there was enough momentum in the market to get going. Rob Parette, executive vice president of leasing and business development said at the time, “There are about 15 to 20 companies that are actively recruiting over 19,000 jobs in the Seattle region, specifically, technology jobs. So, it’s a very robust market in terms of employment and these companies are having to plan their growth.”
Shortly thereafter, the company broke ground on the development.
Amazon has had a very busy third and fourth quarter leasing up space across Seattle. Amazon just took 475,000 square feet in the former Macy’s building at 300 Pine in Seattle, which was followed by the announcement of a 722,000 square foot lease at Wright Runstad & Company’s Rainier Square development project in downtown Seattle. Rainier Square will be Seattle’s second-tallest building and consists of 722,000 square feet of office space, 200 luxury apartments and almost 80,000 square feet of retail space, all above a seven-level underground parking garage. Upon full completion, the development will also feature a luxury lifestyle hotel, which is expected to commence construction in late 2018.
