[mikeji]

Another condo development near Main street in Bellevue. I like the building style! Click the link below for images and details.

http://www.essexbellevue.com/index.php
http://www.essexbellevue.com/media/essex_10-25-2007.pdf

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

I like the look of that building. The brick should be a nice touch!

[Hans Gruber]

Brick or any stone work is a highly desirable exterior simply because you don't have to worry water leakage destroying the inside of your walls. It seems like most condo develeopments who use fake stucco always have to be wrapped and repaired because of water damage due to incorrect application of fake stucco. A lot of the new construction in downtown Bellevue is all glass, brick or large stone work.

It's a nice looking design.

[mhays]

Yes, nice looking.

Buildings built in a certain period have had problems with water intrusion. The problem was typically either/both new building techniques and new laws about airtightness, resulting in exterior systems that allowed water to intrude more than expected, and often even pulled water in with the vacuum effect. Generally woodframes had more risk because the structure could rot.

Developers, designers, builders, and insurers addressed this problem pretty seriously in the past decade. Buildings built in the 2000s tend to be holding up much better. I don't have any statistics for this. But basically, projects can't get insurance unless the insurers are confident that the problem won't exist, and the rest of the team wouldn't risk themselves either.

My building, the Ellington, has gotten professional enclosure studies more than once, and just got a clean bill of health this year.

[mikeji]

check it out...some new renderings

http://www.bellevuewa.gov/pdf/PCD/COB_MajorProjects.pdf

[testdrive]

Wow! I guess the question of what kind of building is going up across the street from the Bravern has been answered.....office. This is the 1st time I have seen the Bellevue Plaza proposal........ impressive! I didn't realize the legacy apts were going to be so massive...... geeez

[mikeji]

The Legacy apartment rendering seems to be too big for 130 units though. Not sure if that's the correct one.

[Big Sky]

Wow, just checked the first page of the thread and there is allot going on in Bellevue. Can't wait to check it out, next time I'm there.

[Fred Savage Man Boy]

Wow, several projects in that pdf that I've never seen before. We've got a basic rendering of Lincoln Square II, a new 800K square foot office tower, Bellevue Plaza. Some great stuff, let's hope Seattle's economy can keep on cranking so we can get most of these started. Although, I'm afraid by the end of this Seattle might look like Vancouver light with a dense downtown core and all the building at the same capped height limit.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Some pics I took earlier in the week
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=140515

[Hans Gruber]

Bond,
You've always been the one that kept the Seattle and Bellevue forums in tip top shape. I know you lots some of your admin rights in the past. I hope that the powers that be give you your admin rights back completely as the Bellevue forum has lost some of its appeal without your leadership. Greats pics, the colors are spot on, there's a little grainyness but that may be the resolution. They still great. I like the camera angles you picked out.

I'm a Fuji only camera guy and my Fuji S5200 (5.1 megapixels) makes the camerman look very good. My newest camera the Fuji S700 (7.1 megapixels)has been somewhat disappointing to me. The colors are too bright on most of my shots but sometimes the shots look great.

Keep up the good work!:banana:

[crow]

Wow!!! Great shot!!! Bellevue towers are going up fast! When is it predicted to top out?

the structures will top out in MARCH...if things stay on schedule.

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

thats great!

[Hans Gruber]

I estimate the Bellevue Towers will be topped off February 25th 2008 at 5:02PM

[destroybananas]

cross your fingers :P

[JiminyCricket II]

check it out...some new renderings

http://www.bellevuewa.gov/pdf/PCD/COB_MajorProjects.pdf

2,400 parking spaces for the 8th Street office tower? Holy Hell... Maybe they'll strike oil during excavation.

[testdrive]

I took the rendering they posted for the 8th st office proposal and enlarged it to get a better look at it and it surprised me that it does actually look like it is about 40 stories and it looks pretty massive. I just wish they would build something that doesn't have a flat roof. Something like the Washington Mutual Tower roof. Kind of gives it a more urban feel in my mind.

[horatio_the_hermit]

I did the same thing and got about 34-35 stories.

[James Bond Agent 007]

I estimate the Bellevue Towers will be topped off February 25th 2008 at 5:02PM
Hmmm, you wanna take bets on that? :P

[Hans Gruber]

Today is black friday. While the women shop, the men take pictures. It's been almost one month and I wanted to update the Bellevue Landsacpe again. Notice the Key Bank Tower is disappearing behind the Bellevue Towers. I also think they need to move of the completion date on City Center 2 because they are really cruising. I read the completion date is 2009. I think they will be done by December 2008. The Puget Sound Business Journal had an article stating that Microsoft planned to lease a great deal of space outside of Redmond. I suspect Microsoft will be the major tennant in City Center 2. It's going to be a gorgeous building when complete. Also, the Main Street crane is up in the lower left corner of the picture.

http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/34908/2005492401859627865_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005492401859627865)

[hi123]

Lol I asked about the one main street crane and it's up now at the right foreground of the pic (it's the white crane) :tup:

[Hans Gruber]

I know I make jokes about Portland and their tree hugging. But I think the designers of Bellevue Towers will win a national design award for this masterpiece in the making. I'm told by some of the construction workers that an identical copy of Bellevue Towers will be built in Southern California as well. Bellevue Towers will be completed first. Notice the beige marble at the base of the south and soutwest corners. The black ares below the public area (5th or 6th floor) will have the marble installed within the next two weeks. It has been a joy for me to watch this project.

http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/34046/2004139164506363893_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004139164506363893)

[Hans Gruber]

Lol I asked about the one main street crane and it's up now at the right foreground of the pic (it's the white crane) :tup:

I was just about to edit my post to include the newly added main street crane, you beat me to it!

[Hans Gruber]

I don't want to leave out the Hines Tower or Expedia building. They've removed the exterior elevator and I imagine all the glass will be installed within the next two weeeks. For such a tragic start, the building looks really nice. In the background perhaps the crown jewel of downtown bellevue, the City Center 2 building with most of the fire proofing sprayed on almost every level now.

http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/35442/2001254097622879442_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001254097622879442)

[Hans Gruber]

It should only be a coulple weeks before the crane comes down on the East tower at Washington Square. The 1020 Hanover project is getting close to topping off. And of the wonderful Lincoln Square in the foreground. I anxiously await the demolition of Safeway and the groundbreaking for Lincoln Square 2 and the two additional Towers. I suspect Safeway will be relocated by March 2008 and demolition on the old Safeway property will soon follow.

http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/33212/2006169548181255104_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006169548181255104)

That's it for me. Let's keep the Bellevue thread going!

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

Woah! Nice pic!!!

[James Bond Agent 007]

Yeah the Hines/Expedia buildings and Washington Square are pretty close - but not quite. ;) Wait another couple weeks or so and I think we can call them "completed."

[mhays]

Condos often take several months after the glass is on before they complete. Moving vans, news announcements, and signs that say "move in today" are better indications.

[mikeji]

The design review has just been submitted, sooner than I expected.

http://transact.mybuildingpermit.com/permitsearch/PermitDetails.aspx?permitnumber=07144354&permitstatus=Open&parcelnumber=3225059080

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

Nice. Another look alike i guess. Hopefully the create a unique rendering. Or Bellvue's skyline will be a lot of rectangles.

[Hans Gruber]

Last nigt I made a guess (not official) because of poor lighting at night. The north tower stands at about 34 floors and the south at 34 floors. My guess is the towers will top off in 10 more weeks.

I will have new photos of the towers and more accurate count later this week. I've been told the goal is one floor per week on each tower. My 10 week guess gives a bit of a cushion.

[Black Box]

So, the Bellevue Towers are the ones that I see shining brightly from across the lake. Thanks for the updates. I was in Bellevue yesterday and had a great time.

[InlandEmpire]

The last time I drove by City Center 2 the curtain wall glass they are installing is a really cool color- I think it's going to be a beautiful building. Bellevue's skyline is really something; It will be one of the best in the country IMHO.

[Spocket]

Just a question and I apologize if it's been asked ten million times already but I'm wondering why Bellevue has so much development ? At this rate it could not only rival but it seems possible that it could eclipse Seattle as the main 'downtown' in the region. There's nothing wrong with that in any way of course, I'm just wondering why there's so much interest in Bellevue for high rise development when (including office and hotel) when Seattle seems like a more natural place for it.

[mhays]

It's still a small fraction of Downtown Seattle in size. Well, it's a rival in retail (with some chain stores we don't have), but a fraction in every other way. To be fair it's generally described as a 450-500-acre area, and Downtown Seattle's land area is much larger also.

In those 450 or 500 acres, I can see Downtown Bellevue topping 10,000,000 sf of office space in the next 5-10 years (7,000,000 with current construction), and might have the envisioned 14,000 residents soon after (I imagine it might hit 8,000 with current construction). Even so, that's nowhere near the scale of Downtown Seattle now.

Furthermore, Downtown Seattle has more construction right now than Downtown Bellevue. It's just more spread out, and it's amidst a lot more stuff, so it's less noticeable.

Bellevue is becoming a legitimate second downtown. I really like where it's going.

[Hoodrat]

There's no way Bellevue could eclipse Seattle.

Another forumer here could probably give you the actual statistics, but there are more towers currently u/c in Seattle than there are in Bellevue...not only that, there are taller bldgs u/c in Seattle as well. There may appear to be more cranes on the bellevue skyline, that might be due to the fact that there arn't a bunch of 50+ storey buildings competing for the view.
Seattle's current tallest is over 900ft...thats twice the height limit in Bellevue.

Bellevue has been Seattle's sattelite downtown for years now. They had a pretty respectable skyline as far back as the eighties. It exists in much the same way as Buckhead is Atlantas primary satelite, or Century City to downtown LA.

[Hans Gruber]

The sun gods finally rewarded me with good reflections. I took some awful pictures on Saturday. The Hanover 1020 looks to be topped off or one floor away. The Washington Square Towers have both cranes removed, only the east tower is visible. Bellevue Towers have around 8 floors to go each. City Center 2 is one week away from having all the glass installed up to the top. The Expedia building is crawling along at a snails pace. The Meydenbaurer Avalon is nearing completion (sort of). I believe it's called the Key Bank Tower next to the Symetra building, it disappeared behind the north tower of Bellevue Towers.

Very soon I will be adding a shot from the eastside facing west so we can get a good look at The Bravern and the Second phase of the Ashwoods Commons 2 and a better look at City Center 2. Enjoy!

http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/40893/2001902380234810898_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001902380234810898)

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

Woah! That's amazing! Thanks for that!

[SeattleHusky82]

I'm not familiar with Century City in CA but as far as the comparison to Buckhead goes, both Bellevue and Buckhead feature upscale shopping and a secondary skyline to the area. However the thing that Bellevue has going for it that excites me is its increase in urbanism. It still has a ways to go but pretty much every new development is being built up to the street to encourage pedestrian activity and we're starting to see a more lively street life because of that. What I noticed when I was in Buckhead was that although it does have some nice looking new towers and excellent shopping, there is no pedestrian activity or any signs of a movement towards urbanism. The area is sprawling with shopping malls and parking lots with towers sprinkled in between. I love whats happening in Bellevue (thats why I bought a condo there =D) and can't be more excited about how it'll continue to transform over the next decade.

[mhays]

There aren't many Bellevues in the US, in terms of density and mix of office and housing, meaning after the current round of projects are done. The DC area has a handful, some actually denser than Bellevue. St. Louis has Clayton. LA has a few around its metro including Century City and Long Beach. San Francisco has San Jose.

[northbay]

San Francisco has San Jose.

san jose would KILL for that skyline.

in fact, most ca cities of greater size than bellevue have a smaller (less, impressive) skyline:

sac, fresno, san jose, bakersfield, stockton

santa rosa has a bigger population (117,000 vs 158,000, source: wiki), and our tallest is like 12 stories!

bellevue continually impresses me. keep up the good work! :tup:
now for that light rail line...

[mhays]

Bellevue's city population has nothing to do with its skyline. Downtown Bellevue serves the whole Seattle metro in its position as #2 center.

[nergie]

Bellevue the city that could. This is a great town, my cousin just moved up there from Houston where the Galleria area is similar but not as urban. I told her about Bellevue when they were looking to buy and they just bought a townhome. I don't know exactly where but they love it

[Hans Gruber]

Who took that great photo on the last page? Wow. Can't wait to see what the other side will look like.

[Jay_Z]

Here is a link with updated photos for all of the current construction projects in Bellevue - will continue updating as others come online, from beginning to end!

Current Construction Projects! (http://www.jeffzenner.com/Bellevue,%20Washington%20-%20Active%20Downtown%20Construction%20Projects)



P.S. Always looking for new vantage points or perspectives if you have any recommendations! Or if you have a nice high rise office, would be glad to use your window ;)

[destroybananas]

Bellevue should be in the most changed skyline forum....

[Hans Gruber]

The north tower of Bellevue Towers is starting floor 41 of 42. I have not counted the south tower but it will be 43 stories. My guess is that both towers will be topped off by the end of the first week of April.

[WonderlandPark]

I drove quickly through Bellevue for the first time in years last weekend and have a couple of questions. I don't see these towers on the front page:

One is a huge silver tower, on the hilly side closer to the 405 than Lincon Center. It is a monster, it is curved on the east side, sort of like a bigger version of the other silver tower that went up like 8-10 years ago. I know its on the hill, but the illusion makes it seem as if its almost the tallest in the city.

The other is a cool and classy 15-ish story all-black tower. Really cool building, I think this sits on the site where that huge hole sat in the ground, but not totally sure.

I recognize the others on the front page.

Nice freaking skyline, even in just the last year the change is amazing.

[Hans Gruber]

The first building that you called silver is actually blue and silver is the City Center 2 building. I believe it's 27 stories tall. It looks tall because it's on the highest elevation of downtown Bellevue. The second tower is the Hines Tower 333 soon to be renamed the Expedia Tower. Expedia has already spoken for the first 18 stories of the 19 story tower.

The Bellevue Towers are down the hill and to the right (north) of the black building you described.

Office Towers appear taller with less floors because each office floor has 12-15 feet per floor vs. 10-11ft per floor for condo towers. The Bellevue Towers still have about 70ft to go on the south tower and 50ft to go on the north tower. This is just a guess considering they climbed both Bellevue Towers 3 crane units each. The final height will finish 20-25ft below the tower cross section.

The Bravern east tower will be topped off by the end of this week. They are flying on that tower going up 2 floors per week on the east office tower. That's Vegas speed.

Rumor has it that Microsoft is paying for overtime and an extra shift for the Microsoft office towers. The city has done an excellent job accomodating the construction throughout downtown Bellevue.

No matter how bad the economy gets, Microsoft still needs 8 million more square feet of office space in addition to what they've already committed to in addition to the Bravern, Microsoft main campus and the new Eastgate towers.

[James Bond Agent 007]

I estimate the Bellevue Towers will be topped off February 25th 2008 at 5:02PM
Sorry, you blew this prediction. :)

[Hans Gruber]

Sorry, you blew this prediction. :)

I was going to look up my old prediction, but you did it for me 007. My new prediction will probably be off by a couple of weeks as well.

[mSeattle]

The skyline sure has changed for the better.

[WonderlandPark]

Thanks Hans. City Center II has no rendering and the Hines building doesn't look so awesomely jet black in the renderings. Great freaking skyline there.

[Hans Gruber]

The city of Bellevue has done an excellent job of approving projects and making special exceptions for construction in downtown Bellevue. I do not think there really is a curfew for when construction must stop at night. I thought it was 7:00PM but the city of Bellevue realizes the importance of infrastructure and construction seems to be going on 24-7 at times.

I blew it on thinking the Bravern northeast tower was topped off. There are at least 2 floors to go which could be done by the end of this week. I looked at the rendering of the Bravern and the east tower says 12 floors but they must have changed the height because they are over 12 stories at my last count. This is one project that seems to be under construction 24 hours a day at times. I have no idea how many stories the east tower will end up. I do know they have an 8-9 floor parking garage under the new structure.

The Bravern will be a wonderful welcome to those traveling into downtown Bellevue via NE 8th. City Center 2 already is an imposing and impressive tower driving north on 405.

Let's not forget the Summit 3 or western most building will be breaking ground after they finish demolishing the 8 story fortress built in the 70's.

I will be making another trip with my camera very soon.

[Hans Gruber]

Can somebody chime in on the Northeast tower on NE 8th. The diagrams on page one indicate 12 stories but it seems to be climbing higher. How tall will the Northeast tower top out at? Have they changed the plans to add a few new floors or am I just bad at counting floors?

City Center 2 went up so fast it reminded me of Las Vegas. The projected finish is 2nd quarter 2009. In my opinoin the building should be done by December 2008.

[Hans Gruber]

Puget Sound Business Journal is saying that City Center 2 or as they call it City Center Plaza will be complete by July of 2008. This is far in advance of the anticipated 2009 completion date.

Suffice to say City Center Plaza went up faster than any other building I've seen built in downtown Bellevue. It's a gorgeous from any angle and should be considered for several design awards.

[James Bond Agent 007]

^
Yeah I agree. That diagonal across the side of the building totally "makes" the building.

[Hans Gruber]

I have been somewhat confused about The Bravern. The northeast building on the corner of 112th and NE 8th is taller than the drawings on the building under construction page. Apparently, the retail floors on the bottom of the building from anywhere from 2-4 floors do not count for the total height of the building.

They are working on the building late into the night, midnight tonight the crane was in operation. I'm not sure if the current floor under construction will be the last floor of the Bravern northeast tower.

A little farther north, the 989 tower phase two looks to be topped off. However, there's another structure going up on the westside of the second phase stairstepping tower. It looks like it will be very attractive when complete.

I five years, Bellevue will truly be a city like no other in America.

Bellevue ranked as top city for starting a business

01:45 PM PDT on Thursday, March 27, 2008

Katherine Sather / KING5.com staff



KING

Bellevue, Wash.

BELLEVUE, Wash. - A list on CNNMoney.com ranks the city of Bellevue as the best American city for starting a new business.

Titled the "100 Best Places to Live and Launch," the list was compiled by Fortune Small Business. It ranks cities based on quality of living and business advantages.

The city of Portland, Ore. – described on the Web site as "young, educated and creative" - is ranked sixth on the list, and Boise comes in at No. 19.

At number 27 is Bellingham, Washington and at No. 40 is Olympia.

Related Content
100 Best Places to Live and Launch 2008
The Web site describes Bellevue as "in transition," and points to a talented workforce and growing downtown as pros. Pricey housing and high cost of living are listed as downsides.

According to the Web site: "Huge corporations exist symbiotically with startups, a booming downtown abuts healthy residential neighborhoods, and the rising skyline is tempered by an abundance of parks, as well as lakeside and mountain views.

[mSeattle]

^
Yeah I agree. That diagonal across the side of the building totally "makes" the building.

Someone over there should take close-up pictures of this building for us.

[Jay_Z]

Someone over there should take close-up pictures of this building for us.

I will have some fresh shots this weekend - here is an example (along with the other photos in this gallery) of the diagonal windows.


City Center Plaza (http://www.jeffzenner.com/gallery/2346778_5QeFh#257094736)

[Hans Gruber]

Bellevue Towers official floor count for the North Tower (closest to Galleria). Fourty floors are complete and they are halfway done with the 41st floor roof. I can't see the entire roof structure so that's a good guess. I'm trying to figure out how many more feet the structures will rise. The South Tower has an additional floor and both roofs will have heating and air conditioning equipment, which is like adding another floor.

My new revised guess for the topping off of both towers is April 30th. They can't miss this date, that would be almost impossible. I'm giving them an entire month.

Safety has been perfectly executed by Hoffman construction. With alley ways on two sides of the buildings, it's very impressive that nothing bad has happened in such tight quarters.

[twinpeaks]

I can't believe all the construction going in this city. thumbs up for building up and not sprawling. The skyline will be much bigger than the sister city of SF....Oakland.

[Hans Gruber]

Bellevue's skyline is already bigger than Oakland right now. Phoenix beware, wait, I think Bellevue has Phoenix covered right now as well. But thank you for the compliment.

Good news, the City Center Plaza Crane is coming down! They've already put in most of the windows will the temporary elevator was on the northeast side of the building. My guess is the crane will come down at the end of next week.

I will post some special pictures that could get me arrested for tresspassing next week. Brand new camera angles never seen before of the east side of downtown.:cheers:

[SeattleHusky82]

Here are some renderings of the Lincoln Square II project that is proposed for the current Safeway site. Safeway is moving across the street into the Avalon Meydenbauer complex at the end of June so this project could possibly start this summer. The skinnier tower along 6th street is a 42 story hotel/condo with 200 condos and 120 hotel rooms. The bulkier building along 4th is a 31 story office tower. Both towers will rise 450 feet. The retail base will have over 300k sq ft of retail including an upscale department store that is rumored to be the Seattle area's first Saks Fifth Avenue.

http://www.sclaterpartners.com/images_proj/LSE-NWa1%20(3).jpg

http://www.sclaterpartners.com/images_proj/LSE-SWa1%20(3).jpg

http://www.sclaterpartners.com/images_proj/LSE-sw1-light.jpg

[Hans Gruber]

Interesting renderings, Seattle Husky. I can only assume the colors on the first two renderings are to illustrate shapes and different angles of the surfaces of each respective building.

The Scan/Design furniture store will also be ripped down in addition to the Bartell Drugs and Safeway that resembles an old bowling alley. The Condo/Hotel tower will be right up against the Westin (perpendicular) but on the eastern most side of the property. Unfortunately, the new and offensive looking Bellevue Art Museum will remain.

The design looks great. I've already seen drilling equipment on several occasions. They were drilling for soil samples in the Safeway parking lot. Instead of calling it Lincoln Square 2 how about just calling it the deuce!

I'm willing to bet they will add two skybridges instead of one when all is said and done. The city of Bellevue has already approved I think 8 skybridges between Bellevue Square, Lincoln Square and Bellevue Place.

These two towers may block some views of the Bellevue Towers, mostly the north tower of Bellevue Towers.

[crow]

i thought the city of bellevue required something interesting on the top to allow the FAR and height bonus to get you to 450 feet?. the tower on 4th in particular has a rather brutal resolution.

[mSeattle]

The building to the north looks like it is in a more advanced stage of design vs. the one on 4th. It's too blocky and straight-edge. Hopefully the design review people will require some rounding or added features on the shell of the building.

[WonderlandPark]

The skyline is going to be pretty plateau-like if everything built goes to 450'

The hills help a bit, but they really should allow some variety in height.

That Safeway always seemed to be on valuable property. Glad to see it put to use.

[Hans Gruber]

Bellevue has a wedding cake design, everything in the center core has a 450 ft height limit. The renderings of Lincoln Square 2 are old. Their heigh and orientation will probably stay the same but the colors will definately look different.

[mhays]

Yes, many of us are hoping that the 450' limit will be raised soon. Bellevue still has plenty of developable sites in the middle of Downtown, and I'd love some 600' buildings at least. Building heights can be contentious in the Seattle area, but 600' seems politically realistic at least within the central core.

The skybridge concept is a step backward from the urbanity Bellevue is otherwise starting to show.

Crow, those tops seem to match the current 450' buildings, so it seems there's no additional requirement. If building height limits are ever raised, I wouldn't be surprised if that sort of requirement was added. My suggestion would be 600' + 10% for architectural flair.

[Hans Gruber]

The Bravern Signature Residences are going to top out at 33 floors. I think the pics on the first two pages of the Bellevue page indicate 29-30 floors. Here is a link to the Bravern condos. The presentation center opened today.

http://www.bravernresidences.com/v2/flash.php?folder=_large

[twinpeaks]

Bellevue's skyline is already bigger than Oakland right now. Phoenix beware, wait, I think Bellevue has Phoenix covered right now as well. But thank you for the compliment.

Good news, the City Center Plaza Crane is coming down! They've already put in most of the windows will the temporary elevator was on the northeast side of the building. My guess is the crane will come down at the end of next week.

I will post some special pictures that could get me arrested for tresspassing next week. Brand new camera angles never seen before of the east side of downtown.:cheers:

It does look bigger when I visited, but according to emporis Oakland CA has 66 completed, 1 under construction. Bellevue has 21 and 13 (wow) under construction. It looks like a mini Dubai with all the cranes. :-) Keep up the good progress.

[mhays]

Bellevue might never match Downtown Oakland in urbanity. Oakland is denser and more urban than many large central cities. But skyline is a different matter.

[mSeattle]

I always viewed Oakland as being a central city in its own right, equal to a Newark in the NYC area. Bellevue is becoming more of a city. Skyline looks great though.

[Hans Gruber]

Before you know it, Bellevue will have 5 structures 450ft tall. Bellevue Towers, Westin, and both Lincoln Square 2 buildings.

The Ashwoods 1 and 2 luxury apartment complex now called 989 Elements is really turning out to be massive in size. If you count the Hanover projects as well, Bellevue will have over 1000 high end apartments coming online in the next year and a half.

[mikeybb555]

I took a walk through Bellevue Towers construction site, and you'd be surprised how "complete" some of the lower floors are. The walls are up, painted, wood floors are down, carpet installed, light fixtures up and working, and running water. Projected move in dates are around October '08 for the lower floors.

[Hans Gruber]

An article on theseattletimes.com says that Microsoft has officially leased the entire City Center Plaza or City Center 2 building. I said it would happen and it did. Unfortunately, I can't find the link to the times article right now.

I've never seen a building go up in Bellevue as fast as the City Center Plaza.

On another note, The Bravern continues to be working past midnight on weeknights. I don't know if they are working 24x7 but Microsoft has them working fast considering the floors of the Bravern are concrete instead of steel. Yet, they seem to be adding at least one floor per week on the northwest tower. Quite impressive.

[comoneymaker]

Dang this city has some nice growth...Anyone have a pan from 5 years ago and now?

[mhays]

Sure. Here's a massive treasure trove of aerials sorted by year. You can find pretty much anything in Seattle, Portland, etc. here.

http://www.aerolistphoto.com/gallery/WA/bellevue/cbd/

[JiminyCricket II]

The front page of this thread needs some serious updating. Bond!

[Hans Gruber]

Here is the article I could not find again yesterday regarding City Center Plaza.

Microsoft to lease Bellevue's City Center Plaza
By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

Microsoft's big footprint in downtown Bellevue got even bigger Thursday.

The fast-growing company said it will lease 561,000 square feet — that's 25 of 26 floors — at the City Center Plaza office building, under construction at Northeast Sixth Street and 110th Avenue Northeast.

Microsoft has been gobbling up big chunks of new office space in downtown Bellevue for more than a year. The latest deal brings the total to more than 1.6 million square feet — more than Seattle's Columbia Center, the region's biggest office building.

When all the space is occupied, the Redmond software giant's downtown Bellevue employment is likely to top 5,500, spokesman Lou Gellos said.

"For a screwy economy, Microsoft sure makes the lights bright, don't they?" said Kemper Freeman Jr., chairman and chief executive of Kemper Development, parent company of Bellevue Square.

Microsoft leases 317,000 square feet at Freeman's Lincoln Square and last year signed a deal for 740,000 square feet — two entire towers — at The Bravern, a mixed-use project also scheduled for completion within the next year.

Freeman and others said the City Center Plaza deal is good news for downtown Bellevue retailers, condo developers and office landlords — just about everyone but office tenants looking to negotiate new leases in an increasingly tight market.

The agreement, which had been rumored for months, is likely to push lease rates even higher and vacancy rates lower, observers said.

About 2,000 Microsoft employees will move into City Center Plaza early next year. The deal will help alleviate a space crunch at Microsoft's Redmond headquarters campus, where some workers are sharing offices built for one.

By putting up new buildings in Redmond and leasing space elsewhere, "we're setting things up to accommodate the people we have and the people we expect to have," Gellos said.

Leasing City Center Plaza also will allow the company to bring together teams that work at scattered locations, Gellos said. Another representative said it's not clear which teams will move.

City Center Plaza's location, "a stone's throw" from The Bravern office buildings on Northeast Eighth Street between 110th and 112th avenues Northeast, also appealed to Microsoft, Gellos said. He said the company would lease all but the ground floor, which will be retail.

City Center Plaza is being developed by Wright Runstad of Seattle for Beacon Capital Partners of Boston. Neither company would comment Thursday. No terms for the deal were disclosed.

The companies had announced just one tenant for the building — El Gaucho steakhouse.

Oscar Oliveira, senior vice president in the Bellevue office of brokerage Colliers International, said the Microsoft/City Center Plaza deal could give a boost to other proposed downtown Bellevue office projects now seeking permits and financing.

"It just confirms what they're telling their lenders: that the market here is much stronger than the rest of the country," he said.

With City Center Plaza now spoken for, there's just one significant downtown Bellevue office building under construction that still has space available: Bentall Capital's 340,000-square-foot Summit III project, which probably won't be ready for tenants until early 2010.

Beacon Capital has applied for permits for an 800,000-square-foot office tower on Northeast Eighth, and Kemper Development is seeking approval for Lincoln Square II on Bellevue Way, a mixed-use project that would include 545,000 square feet of office space.

The Microsoft/City Center Plaza deal certainly helps Lincoln Square II's prospects, Freeman said. Three or four firms have approached him about becoming anchor tenants, he said.

Wasatch Development also has proposed two office towers as part of its full-block mixed-use Washington Square development on Northeast Eighth. CEO Dell Loy Hansen said Microsoft's move into City Center Plaza could accelerate the timetable for his company's project and others.

In addition to its space in downtown Bellevue, Microsoft has begun moving workers into leased space in the new Advanta Office Commons in the city's Eastgate area. Eventually more than 2,100 Microsoft employees will work there, a representative said.

Altogether, Microsoft employs about 36,000 in the Puget Sound area, including about 30,000 in Redmond.

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

[mSeattle]

It's a decade behind schedule since when I personally wrote MS urging them to develope/grow in downtown Bellevue instead of more sprawly campuses. At least they're doing it now.

[Hans Gruber]

The only reason Microsoft didn't expand outside their 250 acre campus is because they had 250 acres of buildable space. In the last 5 years, Microsoft has migrated across 520 and now has the old Eddie Bauer headquarters property and a neighboring property under construction. Microsoft leveled everything and is building the second largest underground parking garage in North America. The largest parking garage is in New Jersey.

Microsoft announced about a year ago they will need 8 million square feet of class "A" office space. They've got 1.6 million square feet now in downtown bellevue under contract and at least 500,000 more square feet under construction in the old eastgate airport on the side of I-90

Expect to see Microsoft gobble up all the new buildings in downtown bellevue for the next 2-3 years.

We eastsiders are no in competition with Seattle. I personally view Seattle as our main downtown and Bellevue as our Micro-downtown.

So that leaves 5-6 million more square feet of office space that Microsoft will need in the coming years.

We need 650ft height limits for the downtown core above the current 450ft limit.

Kemper Freeman will most likely fast track Lincoln Square 2 to accomodate Microsoft. :banana:

It's a decade behind schedule since when I personally wrote MS urging them to develope/grow in downtown Bellevue instead of more sprawly campuses. At least they're doing it now.

[James Bond Agent 007]

I would actually hope for the office part of Washington Square to happen before Lincoln Square II. It would help to fill in that "hole" in downtown Bellevue.

[James Bond Agent 007]

The front page of this thread needs some serious updating. Bond!
Yeah, tell me something I don't know. Been too lazy.

[James Bond Agent 007]

^
There - I did it!

We need to get some new renderings for a few of these projects. Some of the links are expired.

[Hans Gruber]

These pics were taken on May 4th

http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/39716/2231637970103453480S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2231637970103453480rlXNSN)


http://inlinethumb11.webshots.com/16842/2412996720103453480S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2412996720103453480XDSPWi)

I'm using a different picture posting link, hope these look ok.:jester:

[James Bond Agent 007]

AVALON TOWERS

http://www.amaa.com/_uploads/photo/project/195_lg1_AvalontBellevue_01.jpghttp://www.amaa.com/_uploads/photo/project/195_lg2_AvalontBellevue_02.jpg
http://www.amaa.com/_uploads/photo/project/195_lg3_AvalonBellevue_03.jpghttp://www.amaa.com/_uploads/photo/project/195_lg4_AvalonBellevue_04.jpg

[mSeattle]

Wow,

Bellevue is going Bonkers with new Buildings! :tup:

[SeattleHusky82]

Washington Square and Avalon Safeway are both essentially complete. I know residents have been moving into both projects, including Washington Square's second tower.

Avalon Towers looks great. The taller tower reminds me of M Street on First Hill.

[Hans Gruber]

Avalon Meydenbauer is not complete until the Safeway and other shops open. I don't know if anybody is living in the Washington Square East Tower yet. There's still 4 or 5 more buildings to construct over the next 5 years. I'm sure the residents will love all that noise when they start construction on the office tower.:tup:

[mSeattle]

Is that "zig-zag" building still being planned/built?

[mikeybb555]

I've heard a rumor floating around from SEVERAL people, many who of which are very connected, and reliable sources, that:

1. The Washington Square project is looking to unload the rest of the land (so much for the name Washington Square)

2. That the project has gone bankrupt, and they are looking to sell the project.

Anybody have any insight on this?

[Hans Gruber]

I've been told that the west building is 30% occupied and the east building of Washington Sqaure is starting to allow residents to move in, somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% or less. The east building parking garage is not quite complete but usable. This information coming from a homeowner in Washington Square.

My take, the project is 6-9 months behind schedule depending on who you talk to. I've heard many people who purchased units are walking away from their $10,000 deposits, leaving the total units sold in question.

I think the Washington Square development was poorly executed by building in phases without firm completion dates for the entire project. Let's assume that Mikey's info is incorrect. Then the phase one owners of Washington Square on the south and west sides will have 5 years of construction to listen to each and every day.

The existing property is prime real estate for developers. Even if Washington Square (Wasatch Group, from Utah) is broke, other developers will buy the property piece by piece.

[alexjon]

I think MS is slowly leap-frogging into a nice position that will let them shuffle into downtown Seattle if the market flags well enough for them to gobble up some office space-- Bellevue is a bargain, but it seems MS wants to step up a nice hefty notch.

[Hans Gruber]

Microsoft will not be leasing a large amount of space in downtown Seattle anytime soon. You can dream about it but they've been on the eastside since they moved from New Mexico (I can't spell Albequrkee) in 1979. At most they may lease 100,000 square feet of office space in very small pieces 5,000-15,000sq ft of space.

There's still plenty of class A office space in the pipeline in Redmond and downtown Bellevue.

I think MS is slowly leap-frogging into a nice position that will let them shuffle into downtown Seattle if the market flags well enough for them to gobble up some office space-- Bellevue is a bargain, but it seems MS wants to step up a nice hefty notch.

[mhays]

Microsoft has shown a desire to occupy both sides of the lake, and for some very good reasons like attracting workers. It's easy to imagine the possibility of a large lease or two in Seattle.

[JiminyCricket II]

I thought MS was going to lease some space in SLU and have some bus that goes to all their offices in the area that has high speed wireless on the buses so they can work as they commute around to whichever office they need to go to. There was an article in the Times about it last fall or summer. I know it was Vulcan who is the developer (big surprise.) But I can't remember how much space they were gonna lease, but I swear it was enough for at least 200 workers.

[JiminyCricket II]

Here's a small article about it in the PSBJ:

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/09/03/daily18.html?ana=from_rss

That was the first thing I saw when I did a search but I know the Times had a big article about it and showed the buses that they'll be using.

EDIT: Here's a release about the leases and the bus service for its employees:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/sep07/09-06RegionalExpressBusPR.mspx

[mSeattle]

I've seen a "Connector" shuttle driving on Capitol Hill for the past couple of months already. Why on the Hill? I don't know.