Apple's Night at Bellevue Square

With much fanfare the iPhone has been one of the most hyped technology device of our lifetime. This revolutionary device is speculated to take what has been a stale mobile industry to the next level.

Bellevue Square is home to both an Apple store, as well as an AT&T store, of which both sold the highly anticipated product at 6:00pm Friday. The lines for the Apple store stretched outside the building and wrapped around the exterior of Nordstrom. Some of the earliest to arrive in line had been camping out all night to be able to be first to get their hands on an iPhone.

Why wait in line to purchase a phone you ask? To the people standing in line on Friday, will tell you it was much more than just a phone, the event itself is half the fun. Apple in top form stayed open later than usual for the special festivities until midnight.

More "Expedia Tower" Details

The lease between Tower 333 and Expedia is reported by the Globe St.com to have signed a 10-year lease for 348,000 square feet, which is 84% of the available 414,000 square feet offered by the building in construction.

According to a SEC filing Expedia will begin their rent at $35.73 per square foot, and end their 10-year lease at an estimated $45.73, which includes the buildings operating expenses. It seems Expedia received about a 6% volume discount from what their asking prices were on officespace.com.

Also interesting to note:

• If Tower 333 does not deliever the building by September 30, 2008 Expeida can cancel the terms of the lease.
• Expedia will also have certain rights to additional lease space and the option to extend its lease by an additional 10 years.
  

Lincoln Square Office Tower Opening Cermony

Thursday afternoon a ceremony took place in the lobby of Lincoln Square celebrating the grand opening of the 28 story office tower. Developer and Bellevue enthusiast Kemper Freeman was on hand to lead the ribbon cutting ceremonies.

It has been a busy week for downtown Bellevue. Lincoln Square office tower has opened its doors to Eddie Bauer becoming an official tenant, Expedia announced plans to move into Tower 333, and ground breaking ceremonies took place for the Hyatt Regency's additional building.

All the news is very representative of how vacancy rates in Bellevue have diminished to an amazing 3.8% in Q2 of 2007 according to the Seattle Times. The vacancy rate has been reduced by almost half from the 6.7% at the same time last year.










Image Source Seattle Times

Expeida Moving to Downtown Bellevue

Expedia will move downtown into a location that has been currently known as Tower 333 on NE 4th St. The move will take place in November 2008.

The move allows all 1,700 employees the luxury of now working under one roof. Expeida, as reported by the Seattle Times, will occupy the majority of this buildings 20 floors, which CEO Dara Khosrowshashi said will now (unofficially) take on the name of "Expedia Tower".

Much speculation had been made that Google would move into Tower 333 by local media, but have now reported Google will choose to keep their ties in Seattle and Kirkland.

Expedia is currently located at Sunset Corporate Campus on Eastgate Way in Bellevue.
---------------------------------------------------
UPDATE
Officials at Hines who are developing the building have stated that Expedia will occupy floors three through 18, while floors 19 and 20 are still available.

Future Renderings Source Hines


Recent Photo of Current Status

New Main Street Construction

Construction has begun on Main Street in Bellevue for a complex that will include a ten story development. The building will be home to 65 housing units, 4,800 square feet of retail, and 130 parking spots.

It was only a matter of time before the previously run down strip mall boarding the entrance of the city of Medina was torn down. Old Bellevue, as it is known is becoming not only a ritzy shopping area, but now a neighborhood of classy low rise condominium & apartment housing.

Eddie Bauer Welcome to Bellevue!

Eddie Bauer Corporate has officially made the move into Lincoln Square's office space occupying floors 4-13 as previously reported.

There are two elevator bays of which one of them stops on the Eddie Bauer floors, and the other serves the Microsoft floors. The Microsoft office space, floors 14-28, are scheduled to be complete in July.

The two elevator bays are very distinct with both having a large sign above each of them with their respected logos.

Hyatt Expansion Project Begins

The Bellevue Hyatt Regency on Bellevue Way, which is a part of the Bellevue Place, will expand its offerings featuring more luxury rooms, retail, and parking. The previous buildings, where construction will take place have been bulldozed, and the area is now fenced off and cleared for the Hyatt to expand their hotel presence. The project which will be designed and executed by Sclater Partners Architects and GLY Construction when complete will offer:

• 20 Story Tower
• 351 New Rooms
• 18,000 Sq. Ft. Ballroom
• 1,000 Sq. Ft. of additional retail
• 500 Parking spaces

The Hyatt has since gone through upgrades and interior renovations keeping it on par with the newly built Westin. The Westin and Hyatt are the two hotels that occupy space within The Bellevue Collection. The project is scheduled to be complete and opened by Spring 2009.

Bellevue Strawberry Festival

The Bellevue Strawberry Festival has a new home this year.  The event will take place at Crossroads International Park located at NE 8th Street and 164th Ave NE.

This festival has some strong roots. The Seattle Times reported that the first event took place 1925.  At the time Bellevue didn't even have 1,000 people living within the city limits.  

Even through the dramatic change in Bellevue since 1925, you can still find the same great Stawberry shortcake that will be available both days for $4.  The festival will host other food and vendor booths, vintage cars, music, and agricultural displays.  The event promises to be family friendly with entertainment for kids including games, clowns, face painting, and more. 

There will be free parking with shuttle service from Sammamish High School to the festival.

When: Saturday 10 am-8:30 pm Sunday 10 am-5 pm

New Boutique Hotel in Bellevue

Hotel Sierra is opening a new location in Bellevue at 3244 139th Ave SE. The location is strategically placed in the Sunset Corporate Campus which is home to Expeida's headquarters and across the freeway from the North America headquarters for T-Mobile. You can expect many of these business associates from out of town will be staying at the luxurious Bellevue Hotel Sierra.

Hotel Sierra offers standard high end amenities to their visitors including: Robes, flat screen HD TV's, iPod docking stations, Complimentary Wi-Fi, refrigerator, microwave, expanded cable TV w/ premium movie channel, and more.

Common spaces will include a wine, beer and coffee bar, fitness center, outdoor fire pit, indoor pool, and if you want to get away from the hotel they even offer complimentary shuttle service. For visitors without a rental car you are in luck, the Eastgate Park and Ride is across the street.

The hotel which is alloted to accommodate 160 rooms was scheduled to be open in Fall 2007, but now has a revised completion date of December 2007.

Rendering of final product

European Tower Luxury Floors

European Tower luxury condominiums at the address of 930 109th Ave NE in Downtown Bellevue is anything but ordinary. With the relatively small footprint across the street from Bellevue's downtown library, the condominium units will offer full floor exclusivity. Each unit will offer about 2,700 square feet to each of their 15 future owners. The owners will enjoy a 360 degree view with 11 foot ceiling to floor glass windows surrounding the exterior of the building. Each unit will include two decks to enjoy the breath taking views.

This project is named European Tower because in many European communities space is very limited and projects are forced to be extremely efficient with the space they have available. This project is no different. Because of European Tower's lot size there isn't enough room to create underground ramps for parking. A creative alternative solution was created. It is a parking system underground that is automated. It is truly a site which must be seen to be believed (see video here). Essentially you pull in to the garage onto a "pallet", you get out, and the elevator for your car stores your vehicle in your designated spot. When it is time to retrieve your car owners can expect it to only take 90 seconds.

These condominiums don't come cheap. The "floors" are starting at $2 million and are speculated to go for as high as $10 million. The builders expect that the top two floors will be sold together combining for two super floors. Because the space doesn't allow for a workout facility, European Tower's is offering a membership at many of the luxury facilities in the community, at the choice of the buyer.

This parking system from GIS International Group is the first of its kind making it to the Western side of the United States.

Other interesting fact to note, is if you want to take virtual tour, it is not as easy as just going to the Web Site. You need a user name and password to access the simulated tour of the homes on the site.

From the outside this building which is planned to be complete by fall 2008 might blend into skyline of what will be the newly decorated Bellevue Sky, but the experiences inside European Tower will be anything but ordinary.

New York Times Speculates on Bellevue's Growth

Today an article entitled "The Cranes are Back, and So Are the Tenants" concerning downtown Bellevue was featured in The New York Times real estate section. The story begins by referencing the dot com bust and how Bellevue's vacancy rate was at a high of 28% six years ago.

Unbelievable what a few years can do for a city. Bellevue's vacancy rate is now at 4.5%, which is the lowest it has been since 2000, when the area was flourishing from the dot com boom. (Seattle's vacancy rate is 9.3%)

Article Highlights about Bellevue:

• 2.2 Million square feet of office space are under construction.
• 2,500 Apartments / Condominiums are under construction.
• Bravern will have 1.6 million square feet for a mixed used complex, which will also include 450 condominiums.
• $2.6 Billion this year in real estate transactions versus $34 six years ago.
• This year the average square foot in Bellevue is priced at $376, compared to $146 in 2001. (Seattle is currently $364 a square foot.)
• Median Household income for "the area of King County east of Lake Washington" where Bellevue is located is $82,228, compared to Seattle which is $57,378.
• Bellevue is planning to build midblock crosswalks.
• Bellevue plans to provide a free bus service in the downtown area.

It is impressive to see that Bellevue is getting press for how quickly it is growing all the way across the country in New York. It conveys how significant the growth in the downtown Bellevue area truly is.

Avalon Meydenbauer Apartments Coming Soon

Picture taken June 11th

Coming this Fall all you renters will have another option in Bellevue. The Avalon Meydenbauer apartments are beginning to take form. They will be in the heart of downtown Bellevue on the block of Bellevue Way and NE 4th St (kitty corner to Bellevue Square).

Pricing information for the 350 units is not yet publicly available, but you may sign up on their Web Site for more details when it becomes available. The best guess is that pricing will be on the high end, the location in Downtown Bellevue doesn't get much better than it. Cross the street and you'll get to Bellevue Park or Bellevue Square. Another incentive to live in these units is that Safeway is building their new Bellevue location in the retail space below. It doesn't get much better than going downstairs to do your grocery shopping.

Art Rendering of Finished Product

Lexus of Bellevue Grand Facility

The Lexus dealership on Main St has been a part of Bellevue's community for the past two decades.  It is moving...but not far.  The new dealership if you haven't yet seen it yet will be a block away, still on Main St right over the 405 overpass.  The dealership is hard to miss, it has high visibility while driving by on 405.

The project has been going up quickly and the grand opening has been announced for Wednesday August 1st.  Lexus of Bellevue will happily merge their Sales center located on Main St and Service center located on 132nd back into one comfortable sized location.  They outgrew their original facility on Main St in 2005 and split up into two separate locations.

Lexus has promised many new and special amenities for this dealership.  Stay tuned in August to hear about them.

Projected Finished Product

Free Parking in Bellevue is Over

The days of free parking while shopping in Bellevue are over. Well...not everywhere, but Lincoln Square has implemented parking fees for guest visitors in their parking garage. This action was spurred by the practically complete Lincoln Square office spaces, which are ready to be occupied by the end of June. The office spaces will be occupied by Eddie Bauer and Microsoft.

Lincoln Square will allow for free parking for the first three hours with validation.  It is not required to purchase anything for validation.  A representative for Lincoln Square's parking garage stated that anybody may just go into any of the retails stores to get a ticket validated.  If going to a movie at Lincoln Square Cinemas you will be validated for four hours.  Without validation or going over your validation it will cost you $3 for the first hour.

Get ready for lines getting in and out of Lincoln Square.  Lets just hope it isn't as bad as the Bellevue Galleria.

City of Bellevue to Host Downtown Improvement Projects Meeting

The City of Bellevue has 14 projects in the works meant to improve road and pedestrian traffic.  The City will hold a open meeting so the public gets an opportunity to get accustomed to the different office and residential towers currently being built and give feedback.  Community members will get the opportunity to talk one-on-one with the 14 mangers of the projects in Bellevue, which are meant to improve traffic.

Some of the projects will give, as stated by the press release, "opportunity to enhance the look and feel of streets sidewalks and develop a downtown connection to the waterfront."

The City of Bellevue's site has more details on projects currently being worked on.

Downtown Bellevue Improvement Projects Meeting

When: June 14th 11:30-1:30 & 4:30-6:30

Where: First Floor concourse in City Hall

Source City of Bellevue

Greg's Cycle in Bellevue Now Open

Greg's Cycle has been open in a new Downtown Bellevue location for over a month now. The new location is is located at 105 Bellevue Way NE. The Bellevue retail space has 11,000 square feet, which has allowed them to expand their already massive inventory of bikes and accessories.

Greg's is celebrating their 75th anniversary of being business. The first store was in Seattle and they have now expanded to their three existing locations in Greenlake, Bellevue, and Alderwood. Going to anywhere else in the local area for cycle assistance is pretty much a crime. These guys know what their doing, and do it well.

Bellevue Construction by the Numbers

Bellevue Did You Know...

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

Source City of Bellevue

Violent Crimes Rise in Bellevue

A study done by the FBI sited that violent crime in Bellevue has increased in 2006. Violent crimes are categorized as, murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and property crime. The most significant increase was within forcible rapes increasing from 29 in 2005 to 42 in 2006. While any murders are terrible, compared to other cities in Washington, Bellevue is extremely low! Also to keep in mind is that the city of Bellevue's population is increasing, which is not factored into this report.










Source FBI & The Seattle Times

Bellevue City Council Approves Domestic Partner Benifits

The City of Bellevue council voted 7-0 deciding in the favor of gay and straight domestic partner employees of the City of Bellevue to receive the same benefits as married couples. This story has been high profile and closely followed by the local media.

Gay-rights activists have been fighting for employment benefits for partners of gay city workers for multiple years now. The benefits will go into effect in a couple of months.

Source The Seattle Times