Apple Makes Good on Expansion Promise

The tech giant signed a lease for office space at 333 Dexter, a 660,000-square-foot development in the South Lake Union neighborhood being built by Kilroy Realty Corp.

Apple signed a lease for office space at 333 Dexter, a 660,000-square-foot development (credit: Kilroy).

SEATTLE—For years, cranes have dominated the Seattle skyline in the rush to accommodate a growing population and rapidly growing tech firms, led by Amazon. That company now employs more than 45,000 at its headquarters here and occupies about a fifth of the most prominent office properties, according to a Bloomberg report.

Other firms have been muscling in to recruit from Seattle’s engineering pool. As a result, both Google and Facebook Inc. are leasing offices near 333 Dexter, where Apple just leased space.

The firm is making good on a previously announced plan to boost hiring, bringing an additional 2,000 jobs to the area in the next five years. It signed a lease for office space at 333 Dexter, a 660,000-square-foot development in the South Lake Union neighborhood being built by Kilroy Realty Corp., according to the office of the mayor.

This will boost its current presence of about 500 employees in the city. In December, the company said that it planned to add 1,000 jobs in the area in the span of three years as part of a national expansion that also includes a $1 billion campus in Austin, TX.