Safeco Selects Seattle over Software Suburbs

SEATTLE-Assuming it can obtain the necessary approvals to expand its office space here from 670,000 sf to 930,000 sf, locally based Safeco will consolidate its 3,200-person regional operations on and around its 5.5-acre University District campus rather than its much larger suburban campus near Microsoft’s headquarters in the City of Redmond. The decision by the Fortune 500 insurance company comes after months of analysis sparked by the sale of its 1,200-employee life and investments business, which is in the process of vacating about 275,000 sf at its 46-acre, 1.4-million-sf campus in Redmond. While it likely would have been easier to choose Redmond because it’s entire operation would fit onto that low-rise campus without an expansion, Safeco Chairman and CEO Mike McGavick says “we believe we can do the greater good” by consolidating into the U-District, which in is in the midst of a revitalization. Moreover, Safeco’s landmark 21-story office tower there has been Safeco’s official home for 35 years, and the U-District in general has been its home for nearly 70 years.The announcement this week launches what is expected to be a three-year development process, with the first year dedicated to obtaining the necessary development approvals. To make way for another 1,600 employees–1,350 from the Redmond Campus and 250 in new hires–Safeco not only will need to expand onto the International House of Pancakes property it owns immediately south of its headquarters tower at 43rd Avenue and Brooklyn, but also develop a new 125-foot-high office tower on land it plans to acquire across Brooklyn Avenue, a company source tells GlobeSt.com. To do so, the company will need a variance or a zoning change to eclipse the current 65-foot height limit.Safeco officials say they will make an official request to the Seattle City Council later this month for zoning changes and required permits. Safeco’s Redmond employees will continue working on the campus there until construction in Seattle is complete sometime in 2008. When confident the project will move forward, Safeco officials say only then will they make a decision to sell or lease their Redmond campus.In business since 1923, Safeco is a Fortune 500 property and casualty insurance company. The company sells insurance to drivers, home owners and owners of small- and medium-sized businesses through a national network of independent agents and brokers.