Property Types Office
ShareBuilder Takes 130,000 SF in Seattle’s Pioneer Square
Dec 2, 2008
By: Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

ShareBuilder, an online brokerage and investment subsidiary of ING Bank fsb, is growing so rapidly that it needs more space and is moving from Bellevue, Wash., to 83 King St. in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, an eight-story building owned by Starbucks.

The company, which is currently located at 1445120th Ave. NE in Bellevue, is taking 130,000 square feet in the 204,500-square-foot building in mid-2009, according to a release from its owner, ING Direct.

Dan Greenshields, ShareBuilder president, said the firm needs extra space to achieve its expansion plans. ING Direct acquired ShareBuilder in November, 2007. Since then, headcount and staffing is up 60 percent and new account growth has more than doubled, according to Greenshields. He also said the location in historic Pioneer Square will be more convenient for employees loving outside Seattle because it is centrally located and near public transportation.

“It has been great working in Bellevue the past 12 years, first as Netstock Direct, then as ShareBuilder. We will definitely miss the area in which this company was originated,” Greenshields said in the prepared statement. “The Pioneer Square area is the cultural heartbeat of the Pacific Northwest and we know it will be a great corporate fit for us. We are extremely excited to move into the new historic space because it will enable the company to continue to grow and expand our online brokerage business.”

Starbucks bought the 104-year-old building in early 2006, when it was in the midst of an expansion and needed more office space, according to a March 30, 2006, Seattle Post-Intelligencer story. At the time, Starbucks also bought 505 First Ave. S. and surrounding land.

Starbucks is finishing construction of a seven-story, 308,000-square-foot office building at the 505 First Ave. S. site, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. The coffee retailer has been looking to sell or lease 83 King St. as part of a restructuring plan announced in July that halted plans to expand into the two buildings, Jones noted. On July 1, Starbucks announced it was closing 600 U.S. stores and planned to open fewer than 200 U.S. company-operated stores in fiscal 2009.

Parker Ferguson and Dan Foster of Flinn Ferguson Corporate Real Estate represented ShareBuilder in the leasing deal.

 
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