Amazon papers depict potential second Bellevue tower, but company has ‘no timeline’

Amazon’s preliminary planning documents show the potential for a second, similarly sized skyscraper on its downtown Bellevue site, adjacent to the million-square-foot one revealed Tuesday.

“We have no timeline for a second tower,” the company said in a statement, adding that there are no plans to demolish the existing building on the western side of the site at 600 108th Ave. N.E., where the Bellevue Corporate Plaza, a 10-story office building, built in 1980, is located.

“We recently renewed the leases of the tenants in the Corporate Plaza building,” the company said.

Amazon’s architect, NBBJ, on Tuesday submitted a preliminary plan describing its proposal for a 43-story tower on the eastern side of the site, in the heart of downtown Bellevue. The so-called “pre-application conference package,” titled “Bellevue 600 – Phase I,” represents the beginning of a lengthy development and permitting process, with initial plans subject to change.

A section of the 41-page document titled “site massing exploration” depicts a second tower of roughly equal size on the western side of the site, described as a “Potential Phase II.”

Amazon aims to have the Phase I building ready for several thousand employees by 2024. That building, combined with a portfolio of leased office space, would give Amazon space for perhaps 11,000 employees in Bellevue by then, according to a Seattle Times estimate, which does not account for a potential second tower. That’s about a quarter of Amazon’s current employment in Seattle, where it continues adding buildings and jobs.

A few other details revealed in the document: The Phase I tower – which would be the tallest in Bellevue and in Amazon’s real estate portfolio – would include 885,000 square feet of office space, atop a pedestal with 14,000 square feet of street-level retail space, 121,000 square feet of “office amenity” space and a 16,000 square foot meeting center.

Below that, an underground parking garage would have 1,175 spaces and electrical vehicle chargers. A ramp to the garage would be on the north side of the site.

The preliminary plan depicts ample pedestrian plazas around the new building, which would be adjacent to the Bellevue Transit Center and Link Light Rail station, scheduled to open in 2023. “[T]his site and building offer a unique opportunity to welcome and connect people traveling to and from downtown Bellevue,” the plan states.

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