By Meghan Hall
Large tech titans are continuing to invest in the region undeterred. Google has expanded its Kirkland Urban holdings once more, this time acquiring a development site formerly known as Parkplace Center in Kirkland. Now part of the Kirkland Urban mixed-use development, Google paid $40 million. According to public property documents, the sale closed on July 29th, and the seller was an entity associated with PGIM.
Google bought the parcel, known as “Phase B” and “Kirkland Urban East,” which was formerly the headquarters of Wave Broadband, according to both King County assessor’s parcel data and public documents. Development plans for this phase have not yet been finalized, but the site is slated to be demolished, with a new office building constructed in its place.
The project site is bounded by Kirkland Urban North, Urban Plaza and Kirkland Urban Central, completed in the fall of last year. Kirkland Urban South, known as “Phase C,” contains one building totaling approximately 310,000 square feet, plus one grade of below parking. The square footage for Phase C will be broken down into 239,000 square feet of office, along with a 38,000 square foot theater and 15,560 square feet of retail. Although it is designated as Phase C, it will occur as the second phase of construction.
In all, Kirkland Urban is expected to contain 1.3 million square feet of rentable space, of which 775,000 square feet will be office. 367 residential units, as well as 218,000 square feet of retail, entertainment, and health club uses will be part of the plans. Phases A and C combined will total 994,350 square feet, meaning that Phase B will likely contain about 300,000 square feet of office, should Google move forward with its current development plans.
Google finalized its acquisition of the first portion of Kirkland Urban in 2019. At the time, the tech giant paid $435 million for about 400,000 square feet of office between two buildings, which also included retail space and a parking garage. Google purchased the properties from Talon Private Capital, Ryan Cos. and PGIM. Seattle-based Tableau Software currently leases 92,000 square feet of space, while Topgolf, QFC and Shake Shack are also tenants.
Google first set foot in Kirkland more than a decade ago, and has since grown to lease or own more than two million square feet throughout the region. In the Puget Sound alone, the company has some 4,500 employees, according to a fall 2019 statement from the company. Currently, Google’s Puget Sound offices are working on an array of projects for Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Ads and more.
“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 of Ryan Companies US, Inc. at the time of Google’s purchase of Kirkland Urban Phase One. “This milestone validates the success of that vision and we are extremely proud to be a part of Kirkland’s growth.”
