Amazon resumes construction on office tower after years-long hiatus

Amazon is resuming construction on a 42-story office tower in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, the company said Thursday, after 22 floors of the building sat unfinished since 2022.

The company in 2022 paused work on five towers in the Bellevue area, along with new offices in Virginia and Nashville, citing uncertainty around the pandemic’s impact on in-office work. At the time, CEO Andy Jassy said the company was embracing hybrid and remote work. Since then, Amazon has required its employees to be in the office at least three days a week.

In December, Amazon opened the first half of the 42-story office tower in Bellevue, dubbed “Sonic,” and moved about 1,000 employees into the facility.

“Once complete later this year, Sonic will provide space for more than 4,500 employees total,” the company said.

Amazon has continued to secure office space outside of Seattle, where it’s headquartered. Its Seattle campus now spans tens of millions of square feet across more than 40 office buildings. Amazon has said it doesn’t expect to grow its presence further in Seattle.

The company has said it plans to hire 25,000 employees in the Bellevue area. In addition to the Sonic tower, other buildings include Dynamo, which opened in February and can house up to 1,500 employees, as well as a 43-story tower referred to as the “Bellevue 600” project. The tower, its largest, will have about 1 million square feet of office space.

While the company is resuming work in Bellevue, some of Amazon’s other office projects remain halted. Last March, Amazon said it would pause construction on the second phase of its sprawling northern Virginia campus, called HQ2. The second phase, referred to as PenPlace, includes three 22-story office buildings, retail space and a 350-foot-tall tower called “The Helix.” The first phase of HQ2 opened last year.