eBay continues to bolster its operations in the Seattle region, inking a lease for 53,000 square feet at the One Bellevue Center building in downtown Bellevue, reports The Seattle Times. The lease is about double the company’s existing space in Redmond where eBay expanded in 2011 after hiring former Microsoft veteran Ken Moss to lead operations.
At the time of his hiring, Moss said that Seattle represented a “great talent market” for eBay’s product and technology organization.
“Having me based in Seattle will help eBay tap imto the amazing talent pool in Seattle and accelerate building an even stronger presence here,” Moss said at the time. eBay’s new office will have room for about 350 staffers, calculated at 150-square-foot per employee.
eBay is one of many Silicon Valley giants that have established branch operations in the Seattle area, joining the ranks of Facebook, Splunk and Google, now with about 1,000 employees here. (Previously on GeekWire: From Facebook to Zynga: A guide to the tech giants establishing Seattle outposts).
Downtown Bellevue also is becoming a hub of high-tech. Just last week, we reported on Apptio’s expansion, taking over three floors and about 60,000 square feet in an office along 8th Avenue East across the street from The Bravern. Last year, Concur announced plans to move its headquarters from Redmond to downtown Bellevue’s Key Center building, a move that’s expected this year.
eBay’s move is especially interesting since the company is looking to compete for talent with Amazon.com, which is expanding its South Lake Union campus in Seattle and planning to expand even further in the Denny Triangle area of the city.
One interesting thing to watch: Will eBay’s big expansion in Bellevue force Amazon to expand its operations to the Eastside in order to attract talent who don’t want to make the commute (and pay the tolls) over one of the two floating bridges? Google and Tableau Software are two companies which have chosen the dual office structure, in part to attract talent on both sides of Lake Washington.
UPDATE: Moss offered this statement on the new offices:
“We’ve found incredibly strong and diverse talent in Seattle — with deep roots in commerce and technology — and our expansion is another vote of confidence in the work the teams are driving for eBay Inc. It’s an exciting time to be a part of eBay – our team in Seattle includes college interns all the way up to vice presidents, all working on major programs that deliver against eBay’s global priorities.”
