Lincoln Square Office Building Nearing Completion

It has been verified by partners of the Lincoln Square commercial real estate project that tenants will start moving into the building by the end of June. The building looks practically complete as far as its exterior aesthetics go. Eddie Bauer will occupy floors 4-13, and Microsoft's US Sales team will pick up the rest from floors 14-28. Between the two companies they will occupy 540,000 of square feet of what the owners are calling, "class A office space" in Lincoln Square.

These tenants moving into such a large office space will change the downtown Bellevue area forever. You thought it was bad getting out of Bellevue Square during the holidays? Well how about that situation everyday? One of the biggest changes you will see, is the amount of foot traffic in the downtown area. The surrounding restaurants are going to be golden during lunch hours. It will sure be interesting to watch it all unfold.

Bellevue Square's New Lights...First of many upgrades

Have you noticed while parking at Bellevue Square, you can now actually see where you are driving now? You can credit this to the new white fluorescent lights that have (finally) been installed throughout the parking garages. Previously were lights that were yellowish in nature (puke).

This is just one of many new upgrades that will be made over this summer at Bellevue Square. Kemper Freeman announced a couple of months back that starting in June they will begin construction of remodeling of the interior of Bellevue Square's entryways, floors, lighting, ceiling treatments and new finishes to the stairways and elevators. This interior construction should be completed by fall 2008. This is about time, it seems very odd that one of the most successful and upscale malls in the country has a color theme of dark brown, and rusty brown on the floors then accented by green railings. An upgrade in this area will pleasantly be invited.

Also a new "luxury" wing of the mall will begin construction, with a completion date of fall 2009. This new wing of Bellevue Square will include small boutique stores where currently J.C. Penney's and Macy's parking lot is currently located. My question regarding this project is... It is referred to as a "luxury wing". I consider most of Bellevue Square is an upscale luxury mall. What are these "luxury" stores that are going to bring Bellevue Square to an even higher level?

Be prepared for the Bellevue Square construction...

Culinary & Wine Showcase @ The Bellevue Collection

The Culinary & Wine Showcase is currently taking place at the Bellevue Collection until May 27th. If you are a wine freak, or just looking for something to do this weekend there will be plenty to do. The event promises, "five-day event tastings, winemaker dinners, cooking demonstrations, expert classes on food and wine and an outdoor grilling event." Over the five days, you can expect 34 events taking place between Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place, and Lincoln Square.

Vino mania in Bellevue this weekend.

Bellevue High Schools, Top in Country

Newsweek has ranked the top 1,200 top U.S. high schools in the nation. International School, Bellevue, Newport, and Sammamish all placed within the top 104 spots!

Constructon By The Numbers

Bellevue Did You Know?

Cranes 17
Permits 13,800
Needed Building Inspections 60,000

Source City of Bellevue

Bellevue Place to Lincoln Tower Sky Bridge

A section of NE 8th Street has been closed on occasion in late April, and early May due to the implementation of the new Sky bridge that will soon connect pedestrians to and from Bellevue Place and Lincoln Square on their respected second floors. The bridge will connect on the second floor of the Hyatt where retail shops and restaurants currently occupy. Lincoln Square's entrance will be located next to Thomasville Home Furnishings making it much more convenient for shoppers traveling between these buildings.

This will be second Sky Bridge for the Bellevue Collection properties. The first was built to connect the Lincoln Square and the Bellevue Square properties in August 2005 to make it more accessible for shoppers to commute by foot to both locations.

This is the second of what is speculated by the city of Bellevue as two of the possibly eight bridges which might be built in Bellevue.

Hopefully You Own Bellevue Real Estate

Yesterday the Sunday Seattle Times posted an in depth report on what has been a booming real estate market in Seattle and surrounding areas. Bellevue in many areas has lead the pack in year over year percent increases. Bellevue property values averaged an increase of 17% from 2005 to 2006.

The Medina/Clyde Hill Neighborhood lead all Seattle area neighborhoods with an average median price of $1.3 Million per house. The Bridle Trails/North Bellevue neighborhood had the highest average percent increase at 22% increase for 2006.

The underlying message is that people want to live in Bellevue...can you blame them?

For now... Bellevue property=Good investment

In the Market for a Downtown Bellevue Condo?

The multitude of cranes in the downtown Bellevue area are furiously working away at completing their construction projects. Many of these projects are luxury condominium high rises. Unless you are constantly driving around the streets of Bellevue, it might be hard to decipher between commercial and residential real estate buildings.

This weekend there will be a Condo Expo in Seattle at the Westin. It will include condo projects from all over the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle Condo 2007 Expo has listed that it will include Bellevue projects including: Bellevue Towers, European Towers, The Bravern Signature Residences, and Washington Square. This is a great opportunity to compare them all out in once place. The Expo runs weekend on May 19th & 20th, tickets are $10.

House in Bellevue makes it on Luxist

Luxist a popular blog, which posts all types of luxury commodities. Today it has featured a luxury home in Bellevue, WA! The estate is spectacular. It is located on 1.38 acres, and the home allows 6,407 Sq Ft inside. Some specs are as follows, four bedrooms, five bathrooms, and three fireplaces. And don't worry, for all those hot Bellevue Summer days, it comes equipped with its very own pool. With the pool comes a pool house with a studio, exercise room, and spa. Probably the most impressive part of this house is the mostly glass exterior, making the gorgeous view accessible.
Price Tag $6 Million
More pictures here

New Bellevue Square Stores!

In the past month or so Bellevue Square has opened up its doors to some new retailers. (Some exciting ones if I may add)

Nau
Nau is a brand new men's and women's outdoor apparel company based out of Portland, OR. Only they aren't your typical apparel company. You will notice right when you walk in the layout is very clean and simple. So simple it doesn't even seem as if they are done moving in, but after a conversation with one of the employees, they insist they are. The collection is made up of environmentally friendly clothing. Their mission statement is to "Demonstrate the highest level of citizenship in everything we do, product creation, labor practices, the way we treat each other, environmental practices and philanthropy."

They aren't all talk either. Five percent of every purchase goes to your choice of environmental, social, or humanitarian charitable organization. Also interesting to note is, if you choose to have the item shipped to your house instead of taking it from the store, you save yourself ten percent off the price.

Oh, and most importantly...the clothes are super comfortable and stylish. Check them out, they are across the way from Victoria Secret on the second level.

Martin + Osa
Also a brand new retail appeal company is Martain + Osa. This is a sister company of American Eagle. Only the demographics it's being targeted to are different, my best guess would be 25-50 yrs old. It is a very close competitor to J. Crew (if you aren't familiar with J. Crew then you probably aren't the target market anyways), which it is conveniently located next to on the second floor. One of the most impressive things that will draw you in right away is the spectacular exterior of their store. It is a nice wood exterior, with a laser blue ribbon wrapping around it. You'll know what I mean when you see it! They don't have store front windows. It is one of their marketing ploys to make you actually come into the store to check it out instead of just "window shopping".

Oakley
Now for a store you might be a little bit more familiar with. Oakley sells those famous sunglasses they are so well known for. They have also ventured out into the appeal, watch, footwear, and electronic markets. Their store is nicely laid out in a small location next to Puma on the second floor near the clock.

Sole Mio
This new Bellevue Square addition is a High-end boutique that carries premium sunglasses brands from around the world. You might be thinking..."In an area that it rains for half the year, why do we need another dedicated sunglasses retailer?" Well here is a fun fact for you. More sunglasses are sold in Seattle than any other U.S. city. It is because when the sun comes out it is so bright than what our eyes aren't accustomed to it, and it’s nearly impossible for the average person to see without squinting.

But as we well know the sun doesn't come out all the time, so we never have them with us, or they are lost, so we just buy new ones.

Crane Fall was due to Faulty Structure Says State

A state L&I issued report found a flawed engineering design to blame for the November Crane accident in Bellevue. In the accident Matthew Ammon was killed in his top floor apartment at the complex across the street from the crane's original location.

The crane was being used for what will be the Tower 333 building at NE 4th St and 108th Ave. For more on the story go to Seattle Times.

Downtown Bellevue Major Project Updates

According to the City of Bellevue, the downtown area has 31 projects major projects in the pipeline. Many of which are on their way to already being completed in the very near future. A very sweet PDF pamphlet is available to view all the different projects in the works. Bellevue is growing up FASTER than you think.

Tower 333's Rapid Construction

If you haven't noticed, the Hine's company is constructing an office building on NE 4th St and 108th Ave NE. It is in the heart of downtown Bellevue in an area where new construction is being built as quickly land old buildings can be demolished. The office building will provide 410,000 sq. ft. to local companies. It has been rumored in the past that Google will occupy the building. But recently the Seattle Times reported that Google will look to in the Seattle area to occupy office space.

Here is a rendering of what the building will look like when it's done:


Current Progress:


Check out the writing on the steel beam!!! "I love Alexis -Chris" HA!

Hello World, Hello Bellevue

Hello world, but more importantly hello Bellevue. I have been a resident of Bellevue, Washington my whole life, and know this city inside and out, so I thought why not share the wealth of information!

This site will be dedicated to information relating to anything from new retail, real estate developments, entertainment, news and so on in the downtown area. The point is to keep you informed about new developments in one of the fastest growing cities on the west coast!