Amazon will resume construction on the top 22 floors of an office tower in Bellevue, Washington, where it halted work 18 months ago. Turner Construction Co. has been the construction manager of the structure, known as 555 Tower, but which Amazon refers to as “Sonic”.
The major online retailer had announced in December that 1,000 employees were already working on the lower 19 floors of the building.
The company said it is continuing construction on the remaining floors and “bringing online an additional 500,000 square meters of collaborative workspace” that will bring the total number of employees in the building to 4,500.
When Amazon decided to suspend work on the upper floors in 2022, it was described as part of uncertainty about hybrid working arrangements and back-to-office work in the technology sector. A slower-than-expected post-pandemic return to office space and higher interest rates have weighed on many office building developers and their lenders over the past year.
Amazon had originally planned to occupy five towers in downtown Bellevue when it announced the delay. Amazon has already leased three Bellevue buildings from developer Vulcan Real Estate, which also developed 555 Tower.
The status of another major planned Amazon construction project, the HQ2 development in Arlington, Virginia, remains uncertain. In March 2023 the company announced an indefinite delay to the start of the second phase of the 2.8 million square meter program, known as PenPlace.
Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
