Company will relocate to F5 Tower in downtown Seattle from current campus on Elliott Bay
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) announced today that it is moving its corporate headquarters to 801 Fifth Avenue. The new Class A office tower developed by Daniels Real Estate and Stockbridge Capital Group will be called F5 Tower.
F5 Networks, which currently has its headquarters on Elliott Avenue West in Seattle, will relocate to the new downtown office tower in early 2019 when the tenant improvement build-out is completed. The company will lease all of the 516,000 square feet of office space in the 44-story building. A full-service luxury hotel designed by the internationally renowned Philippe Starck will occupy the lower floors of the tower.
With a unique architectural design by ZGF Architects of Seattle, the iconic and innovative tower was designed with high-tech companies in mind. It is the only tower in Seattle that offers column-free floor space for maximum efficiency and more windows per square foot than any other office building with unobstructed views of Seattle and the Puget Sound.
The new space will provide a dynamic work environment that will help attract top talent, while giving us room for continued growth
“Our move to F5 Tower will provide current and future F5 employees with an iconic, modern corporate headquarters that aligns with our growth as a company and showcases our significant place in Seattle’s technology industry,” said Andy Reinland, Chief Financial Officer, F5. “The new space will provide a dynamic work environment that will help attract top talent, while giving us room for continued growth.”
F5 chose this location after a thorough evaluation of options across King County against criteria determined through employee surveys, workplace studies, and commuter data. The location was chosen in part due to its excellent access to public transportation options and freeways, as well as a wide range of employee amenities and its proximity to downtown conveniences. Co-location with a hotel will also serve F5’s extensive needs for meeting space and provide a convenient location for visiting employees, customers, and partners.
F5 Tower was developed by Daniels Real Estate in conjunction with Stockbridge Capital Group, an investment management firm representing major pension funds based in San Francisco. JTM Construction is the general contractor, and Stuart Williams and Joe Gowan at JLL represented Stockbridge Capital Group and Daniels Real Estate in leasing the office tower.
“F5 Tower represents the next level of Class A office space in Seattle,” said Kevin Daniels of Daniels Real Estate. “Its innovation is rooted in the connection to the historic sanctuary building, formerly the First United Methodist Church. The church was started by pioneering families who have left their mark on Seattle. I couldn’t be more pleased that a Seattle-based world leader in technology has agreed to lease the full tower. It certainly is full circle for the historic site, now the home of F5 Tower.”
“Stockbridge was drawn to invest in downtown Seattle because of its great appeal as a place to work and the city’s proven record of being able to grow great companies like F5 Networks,” said Terry Fancher, Executive Managing Director of Stockbridge.
“Downtown Seattle has incredible infrastructure, amazing talent, and offers everything that F5 Networks and other technology leaders need for continued growth and financial success,” said Craig Kinzer of Kinzer Partners, whose firm represented F5 in their search for a new headquarters. “F5 moving to its own high-rise represents a new trend of tech firms utilizing all the benefits of a dense, urban location, as opposed to the traditional, low-rise campus outside the downtown core.”
About F5
F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) makes apps go faster, smarter, and safer for the world’s largest businesses, service providers, governments, and consumer brands. F5 delivers cloud and security solutions that enable organizations to embrace the application infrastructure they choose without sacrificing speed and control. For more information, go to f5.com. You can also follow @f5networks on Twitter or visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technologies.
About Daniels Real Estate
Daniels Real Estate LLC is a Seattle-based company formed to develop complex and challenging dense urban real estate projects that help to revitalize the district that they are located in. Combining community participation, advanced sustainable practices, complex urban planning, great architectural design and historic preservation, Daniels Real Estate has earned a reputation as a leader in the Greater Seattle development community and a nationally recognized contributor to historic preservation. www.danielsre.com
About Stockbridge
Stockbridge is a real estate investment management firm that represents many of the largest public and private pension funds in the U.S. and numerous internationally-based investors including major sovereign wealth funds. Stockbridge invests in all major property types using core, value-added and opportunistic risk strategies. Led by a team of industry professionals with decades of experience, Stockbridge and its affiliates had approximately $10.7 billion of assets under management throughout the United States as of Q1 2017. Stockbridge is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Atlanta, Chicago and New York.
F5 is a trademark or service mark of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
