OpenAI is dramatically expanding its presence in the Seattle region, signing a massive new lease for ten additional floors at City Center Plaza in downtown Bellevue, bringing its total footprint to 296,000 square feet in one of the largest AI company leases in the area.
The San Francisco-based company previously occupied two floors in the building and now has room for more than 1,000 employees based on typical commercial real estate standards. OpenAI currently employs more than 300 people in the Seattle area according to LinkedIn data, up from around 169 in September. The company arrived in Bellevue in 2024.
The office gives OpenAI a major hub just a short drive from Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters and within blocks of Amazon’s expanding Bellevue towers, tightening ties with both cloud giants. Microsoft has invested billions in OpenAI and serves as its primary strategic partner, providing the Azure cloud infrastructure that underpins many of OpenAI’s models and products. OpenAI has also deepened its relationship with Amazon, inking a $38 billion cloud deal in November, with Amazon reportedly in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI as part of a new investment round.
Microsoft previously occupied a majority of the 26-floor City Center Plaza building but said in 2023 it would not renew its lease. The building is adjacent to a light rail station that will offer transit connection to Seattle starting in March. OpenAI recently acquired Seattle startup Statsig for $1 billion and is reportedly gearing up for an IPO. Reports indicate OpenAI is paying employees “more than any tech startup in recent history,” with average stock-based compensation set around $1.5 million per person at the company, which has around 4,000 employees.
OpenAI now has one of the largest offices among out-of-town tech companies with satellite engineering centers across the Seattle region. Meta, Google, Apple, and other Silicon Valley giants have substantial footprints in the area, which boasts one of the world’s top technical talent pools. Seattle has the most AI engineers in the U.S. behind Silicon Valley, according to a 2024 report from venture capital firm SignalFire.
The expansion reflects a growing role for the Eastside in the AI boom. Many technology companies have signed new or expanded leases in Bellevue recently, including Snap, Anduril, Shopify, Snowflake, Walmart, and Chewy. Vacancy rates still remain high in downtown Bellevue at 25.4% at the end of last year, though that’s lower than downtown Seattle, where vacancy rates hit a record 34.7% in Q4.
