Amazon.com Set to Break Records with Purchase of HQ from Vulcan

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

In a long-anticipated deal, Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, finally acquired its 11-building headquarters in Seattle from owner Vulcan Real Estate. The Paul Allen-controlled investment company received a whopping $1.2 billion for the property, placing the transaction in a single-horse race for the title of the year’s largest U.S. office transaction.

Amazon.com moved to acquire its 1.8 million-square-foot HQ in the coveted South Lake Union area of Seattle in a time in which both office and multifamily projects are multiplying in the area. Bloomberg.com reported that Amazon has submitted a nonrefundable deposit worth $23 million, which will increase by the end of October, bringing its total value to $51 million. The transaction should be finalized by the end of the fourth quarter of this year or the deposit will be forfeited. The injection of capital Vulcan will receive through this deal will be used for other projects the company has in South Lake Union, as well as the other five urban centers designated back in 2004 by local officials: Downtown, Uptown, Northgate, First Hill – Capitol Hill and the University District, each with their own subdivisions.

When completed, the massive office deal will not only provide Seattle with a spot on all of the commercial real estate reports but also give the state a considerable tax windfall. Should the deal be completed by the end of the year, Washington would receive $14.8 million in real estate excise taxes, while the city of Seattle would get $5.8 million, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports. Amazon.com will also generate revenue to the city and state through its upcoming acquisitions of land in the Denny Triangle area, as well as completing a deal to fully lease the under-development 202 Westlake office building.

Image courtesy of user Valerie Craig (Val Ann) via Flickr