By Meghan Hall
The long-speculated price of Google’s acquisition of a portion Kirkland Urban, a large, Class A mixed-use development in downtown Kirkland, has become public. Industry reporting first revealed that Google acquired 400,000 square feet of office space across two buildings in the fall of 2019, but at the time, the price of the campus had not been revealed. According to public documents referenced by the Puget Sound Business Journal, Google paid $435.7 million for the office buildings, in addition to retail space and a parking garage.
“Google has finalized our deal with Ryan-Talon Kirkland Phase One, LLC to purchase space at the Kirkland Urban site, which will serve as an additional campus for our growing presence in Kirkland,” said Eric Young, Google Washington site lead in a prepared statement. “Google opened its first small Washington office in Kirkland back in 2004 and fifteen years later, we’ve grown to over 4,500 employees across our Kirkland and Seattle offices, working on major projects including: Android, Chrome, Cloud, Maps, Ads and more. This new campus will provide room for future growth and further cements our commitment to the Kirkland community. We’re proud to call this city home and will continue to support its growing economy.”
The buyer on tax affidavits filed with the Department of Revenue is Orange Submarine LLC, whose street address corresponds with Google’s. Kirkland Urban developers sold nine parcels to Google for $400.7 million. In an additional but separate transaction, Google paid PGIM, one of the project developers alongside Talon Private Capital and Ryan Companies, about $35 million for an adjacent piece of property. In all, Google has purchased two office buildings, two retail buildings and a parking garage.
In addition to Google, Seattle-based Tableau Software signed a lease for 92,000 square feet of Urban North.
As a whole, Kirkland Urban totals 12-acres and upon completion will total more than 1.2 million square feet. The first phase of Kirkland Urban, which was recently completed, includes 390,000 square feet of office and a new 50,000 square foot SFC-anchored multi-department grocery store. Other retail tenants include Shake Shack, Café Ladro, Soi and Dough Zone. AT&T and Top Golf has also claimed space. As of the fall of 2019, more than 107,000 square feet of retail was signed for.
The residential part of the development, known as Kirkland Uptown, recently opened at the end of 2019 and includes 185 luxury residential units. According to Ryan Companies, the residential portion will remain under the ownership of Ryan Cos., Talon and PGIM.
“Creating a place for Kirkland companies to grow their business and remain in the neighborhood was the primary goal of the Kirkland Urban project, we are incredibly proud that Google shares that vision with our partnership team,” said Bret Jordan, senior vice president, market leader, northwest, Ryan Companies US, Inc. “This milestone validates the success of that vision and we are extremely proud to be a part of Kirkland’s growth.”
