After Expedia purchased the 40-acre former Amgen Helix campus in Interbay last year, they announced big plans in March for what they called “The Nexus.”
The planned transformation includes what Expedia calls "The Nexus," a new four-story atrium for company meetings and events, and "The Courtyard" encircled by a 600,000-square-foot, four-story office building.
When it opens, the campus will have 800,000 square feet of finished space and an additional 400,000 square feet of unfinished shell space for future growth.
Just a few months later, Expedia is walking back those plans in an attempt to save themselves as much as $600 million in construction costs.
Instead of expanding right away, the travel company will now take a “modular approach” to their new home, building based on their current needs and expanding as it makes sense. According to Chief Financial Officer Mark Okerstrom, the change could potentially trim what was a $1 billion-$1.2 billion cost in half.
The revised plan still includes redevelopment of the current lab buildings in time for the 2019 move. Eventual “Phase II” and “Phase III” plans that would expand the campus to 1.9 million square feet could still happen but the timeline is now unclear.
The company will transition 3,500 employees from their current Bellevue HQ to the Interbay campus in 2019. The original plans called for enough space to accommodate 4,500 employees.