Top 10 Largest Office Buildings in the Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest U.S. region preserves its reputation as a hotbed for tech firms and startups, which continue to thrive due to the area’s strong fundamentals and academic initiatives. But there’s more to it than just a tech craze—a large number of Fortune 500 companies from the financial sector have been long-term tenants and have been occupying large blocks of space in the area’s main urban centers: Seattle and Portland.

The list highlights the Pacific Northwest’s top 10 largest office buildings based on square footage as of May 2018. The ranking is based on Yardi Matrix data.

10. U.S. Bancorp Tower in Portland, Ore.

UBS Realty Investors’ 1,073,000-square-foot asset is the second tallest office tower in Portland, spreading across 42 floors in the city’s central business district. Built in phases in 1973 and 1983, it underwent multimillion-dollar renovations in 2002 and 2014. Although it is the last property on our ranking, it is Oregon’s largest office building in terms of volume.

Located at 111 SW 5^th Ave., the tower originally served as U.S. Bancorp‘s national headquarters. The LEED Silver-certified asset is dubbed “Big Pink” due to the Spanish granite and pink-glazed plate glass covering the structure.

9. Rufus 2.0 – Block 14 in Seattle

The 1,090,000-square-foot building houses Amazon’s corporate headquarters and goes by many names: Rufus 2.0 – Block 14, Doppler or Amazon Tower. Completed in 2016, it is part of a three-property office campus developed by Amazon in the Denny Triangle neighborhood. The 37-floor building sits at 2021 7^th Ave. and features a five-story meeting room center, a 2000-seat stadium-style amphitheater and stage, as well as a six-story underground parking.

8. Two Union Square in Seattle

Located at 601 Union St. in downtown Seattle, the 56-story Two Union Square spreads across 1,126,428 square feet and is the third-tallest building in the city. Washington Holdings has been owning the 1989-built asset since 1992 and currently handles its property management and leasing services.

The tower is part of the Union Square office complex, which includes the smaller One Union Square, and features a 1,100-stall parking garage, a courtyard, a three-story retail plaza and an underground pedestrian concourse connecting Fifth Avenue Theater and Rainier Square. Additionally, the complex has received LEED Platinum in 2015 and houses a series of prestigious tenants such as HomeStreet Bank, Apple and JLL.

7. 1201 Third in Seattle

Built in 1988, 1201 Third comprises 1,128,575 square feet across 55 stories. A MetLife Real Estate Investment and Clarion Partners joint venture acquired it in 2012. The LEED Platinum-certified asset is located at 1201 3^rd Ave. in Seattle’s CBD and was developed by Wright Runstad & Co. It also served as Washington Mutual’s world headquarters from its completion in 1988 to 2006. Amenities include a transit tunnel in the building with access to light rail and buses and a three-story outdoor plaza with retailers, services and eateries.

6. Rufus 2.0 – Block 19 in Seattle

Amazon’s 1,130,790-square-foot office tower is another testimony to the tech giant’s taste for massive facilities and its expansive Seattle footprint. The 55-story tower is situated at 2101 7^th Ave. and is the largest asset within the landlord-occupied recently completed campus. The building is also known as Day 1, Amazon’s prior South Lake Union campus, or Amazon Tower II. It features three intersecting glass and steel spheres totaling 65,000 square feet across five floors capable to house 1,800 employees, as well as retail space.

5. Intel Jones Farm Campus in Hillsboro, Ore.

Intel’s 1.3 million-square-foot campus sits on 116 acres at 2111 NE 25^th Ave. in Hillsboro and encompasses five fully occupied buildings. The campus was built in phases in 1990, 1994 and 2000. It features a cafeteria and a direct shuttle to the Hillsboro airport, located less than 2 miles away.

4. Columbia Center in Seattle

Downtown Properties acquired the 1,527,101-square-foot Columbia Center in 2015 for no less than $711 million. At 937 feet, the LEED Platinum asset was originally completed in 1985 and underwent renovations in 2004 and 2013. It spreads across 76 floors and includes 50,000 square feet of retail, bike locker, conference center, dry cleaning and showers. Located at 701 5th Ave. in downtown Seattle, Columbia Center houses a diverse tenant roster including Government Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, City of Seattle, Dorsey & Whitney and Dropbox.

3. Starbucks Center in Seattle

The asset, owned by Notze-Stagen, was formerly known as the SODO Center and is situated at 2401 Utah Ave. S. in SoDo, Seattle’s industrial district. The 2.1 million-square-foot asset achieved LEED Gold certification in 2007 and is the largest and oldest building in the U.S. to earn a national green certification. It was originally built in 1912 and previously served as a Sears location.

Following a 1992 adaptive reuse, Starbucks moved its administrative offices to the facility and then its headquarters in 1997. The property encompasses three buildings of six, nine and 10 stories. It also features a 100,000-square-foot retail and a large industrial component.

2. Microsoft Redmond Main Campus in Redmond, Wash.

The campus totals 2,454,879 square feet across 35 buildings erected between 1986 and 2007. Located at 16255 N.E. 36th Way in Redmond, Wash., on more than 231 acres, it is surrounded by greenery and has direct exposure to Route 520. Microsoft has been occupying the campus since 1986 and acquired six of the buildings in 2002 from Safeco Insurance. Following the acquisition, the owner merged the existing campus with the recent purchase, rebranding it as Microsoft Redmond Main Campus.

1. Microsoft World Headquarters – West Campus in Redmond, Wash.

The largest property on our list encompasses 2,525,860 square feet of office space and carries 16 addresses along 40th St. in Redmond. It is located in the close vicinity of the Microsoft Redmond Main Campus and comprises 18 buildings on 88 acres. It is a mixture of suburban corporate offices and landscaped parks. Besides cafeterias or high-tech meeting rooms, the complex features interactive exhibits such as giant screens and games, Surface displays with multi-touch technology, as well as a company store.

Images courtesy of Yardi Matrix