Beam Reach Plans 'Post-Pandemic' Tech Campus in Bellevue, WA

Dallas-based Beam Reach Partners has unveiled plans for a 740K tech campus in Bellevue, WA that the company says is configured for the post-pandemic needs of tech companies.

The development, located next to Bellevue’s newest Downtown light-rail station, envisions twin 16-story towers connected by four stories of terraced platforms and an “abundance” of green space—including landscaped outdoor terraces on each floor of the buildings, which also are surrounded by outdoor green space at ground level.

The tech campus, to be known as KANON, also will feature extra-large floor plates that Beam Reach is calling “superfloors,” according to an announcement made by Newmark, who will handle leasing the new campus.

Beam Reach has agreed to acquire a ground lease from Wallace Properties for the development site in Bellevue, which is located at the southeast corner of 112th Avenue NE and NE 4th Street adjacent to I-405.

Wallace Properties, a developer based in Bellevue, has owned the property for nearly three decades. Wallace filed a development plan for the site with the city in 2021, a plan that now will be replaced by the plans for KANON.

Construction on KANON is expected to begin in late 2023 and be completed in 2026.

“This thoughtfully designed project will be a unique offering to the market,” said John Lewis, co-founder of Beam Reach Partners.

“With an abundance of green space and floor plates that are optimized for tech users post-COVID space needs, KANON will be an attractive option for traditional and technology tenants,” he said.

The development will include a bike/pedestrian connection to the light-rail line—there also will be access to “multi-modal” trails along 114th Street—rooftop decks and a “central park” of nearly an acre that the company says will be the largest outdoor green-space amenity of any office development project in Downtown Bellevue.

The wi-fi equipped park will feature an amphitheater and a variety of outdoor work, social and eating areas.

Seattle-based Gensler & Associates, an architectural firm that is designing KANON, said plans for the campus are addressing the evolving needs of tenants for more spaces that emphasize health and wellness.

“The abundance of outdoor access and green space will provide third places where tenants can socialize or have focused time with a sense of safety and well-being, something [our] research findings have revealed as one of the most important things employees want,” said Brian Di Maggio, senior associate at Gensler Seattle, in the release.

According to Newmark’s Q2 office market report, the Seattle Eastside submarket has had four quarters of positive adsorption of office space, with a vacancy rate of 4.8% and 6.5M SF of new construction.