Vulcan Real Estate is quietly testing the market for one of South Lake Union’s crown-jewel office towers, putting its Google‑leased, 12‑story building at 520 Westlake Ave N up for sale. The glassy high‑rise, which opened in 2022, sits at the busy intersection of Mercer Street and Westlake Avenue North, with a south‑facing plaza and a sizable lineup of ground‑floor retail. The move is the latest signal that Vulcan is still actively reshuffling its portfolio in Seattle’s priciest tech corridors.
What's for Sale
As reported Monday by the Puget Sound Business Journal, Vulcan has formally listed the 520 Westlake tower and is already in discussions to shed another major office property in the Seattle area. According to the Journal, the Westlake building is leased to Google and features more than 27,500 square feet of retail space at street level.
Building Details
Vulcan’s own project page describes 520 Westlake as a roughly 338,000‑square‑foot office tower rising 12 stories, with about 24,000 square feet of retail space, outdoor terraces, public art installations and Google serving as the anchor tenant. The developer puts special emphasis on the active ground floor and pedestrian plaza along Mercer and Westlake, design choices intended to help the property hold value even as the broader office market keeps shifting.
Vulcan’s Selling Track Record
This is not Vulcan’s first big cash‑out in South Lake Union. The company previously sold the nearby Lakefront Blocks campus, also leased to Google, for about $802 million in 2022, a sale that set a high‑water mark for Seattle’s office market at the time. That transaction fits into a longer pattern of Vulcan rotating assets in the neighborhood, which has continued to attract large tech tenants. GeekWire reported on the 2022 deal.
Why Buyers Might Care
Market watchers say Seattle’s office landscape is increasingly split in two: overall vacancies remain high, but newer, well‑located buildings with top‑tier tenants are holding their own. A June market note from Mohr Partners points to a wave of recent AI and tech leasing commitments and argues that high‑quality, tech‑anchored assets like those in South Lake Union are already seeing renewed interest from tenants and investors.
What Comes Next
With a Google lease in place, modern amenities and busy street‑level retail, 520 Westlake is likely to draw a close look from institutional buyers and potential owner‑users hunting for a trophy South Lake Union address. Local market reports indicate that in the current environment, stabilized and well‑leased offices are especially attractive to patient capital. Regional data from Flinn Ferguson underline those trends in vacancy and sales activity, setting the backdrop for whatever deal Vulcan lines up next.
