Microsoft campus

Microsoft chose to move its headquarters from Bellevue to nearby Redmond in January 1985, selecting a {{convert|29|acre|adj=mid}} plot of land that would be developed by Wright Runstad & Company.{{cite news |date=January 15, 1985 |title=Microsoft Corp. to move its headquarters to Redmond |page=B2 |newspaper=The Seattle Times}} Construction began on August 9, and Microsoft moved into the $25 million facility on February 26, 1986, several weeks before the company's initial public offering.{{cite news |last=Buck |first=Richard |date=March 9, 1986 |title=Computer Memory Explored Conference reveals just how many are interested in the technology |page=D6 |newspaper=The Seattle Times}}{{cite web |last=Summerford |first=Tina |date=April 16, 2009 |title=The History of Microsoft - 1985 |url=https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1985 |work=Channel 9 |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=July 11, 2016}} The move generated some concerns about increased traffic congestion on the unfinished State Route 520 freeway between Bellevue and Redmond;{{cite news |last=Casey |first=Carolyn |date=November 28, 1984 |title=Firm appears headed for site in Redmond |page=F1 |newspaper=The Seattle Times}} a new freeway interchange at Northeast 40th Street would later be built in 2000 to service the campus, after lobbying and partial funding from Microsoft.{{cite news |last=Whitely |first=Peyton |date=October 5, 2000 |title=Hwy. 520 ramps expected to ease Redmond commute |page=B1 |work=The Seattle Times}}{{cite news |last=Ervin |first=Keith |date=March 7, 1996 |title=And now...the Microsoft Inerchange: Company uses clout to determine 520 exit |page=B1 |work=The Seattle Times}}

The initial campus was situated on a {{convert|30|acre|adj=on}} lot with six buildings and was able to accommodate 800 employees, growing to 1,400 by 1988.{{cite news |last=Lalonde |first=James E. |date=January 28, 1988 |title=Microsoft deals with pressure: Heavy demand, not enough room |page=E2 |work=The Seattle Times}} The site was once home to chicken farms in the 1920s that were ultimately demolished. The campus was originally leased to Microsoft from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, a pension fund manager, until it was bought back in 1992.{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Scott |date=January 8, 1992 |title=4 original headquarters buildings and land repurchased by Microsoft |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920108/1469226/4-original-headquarters-buildings-and-land-repurchased-by-microsoft |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 15, 2016}} The original buildings were given sequential numbers, with the exception of 7 due to a delay in permitting that became indefinite.{{cite news |last=Lerman |first=Rachel |date=November 30, 2017 |title=Microsoft's campus redevelopment: What's staying, what's being torn down |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsofts-campus-redevelopment-whats-staying-whats-being-torn-down/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=November 10, 2018}} A pond between the original buildings was nicknamed "Lake Bill" for Bill Gates and was used for post-project celebrations, namely managers being thrown in after a successful launch.

The first major expansion of the campus came in 1992, bringing the total amount of office space to {{convert|1.7|e6sqft|sqm}} across {{convert|260|acre}} of land. Microsoft also announced its intention to contain most of its future growth within Redmond, while retaining some offices in Downtown Bellevue and its Factoria district.{{cite news |date=December 2, 1992 |title=Microsoft will not expand beyond Redmond campus |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19921202/1527777/microsoft-will-not-expand-beyond-redmond-campus |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 15, 2016}} The Redmond campus was plagued by hundreds of rabbits who spread around the area in the late 1990s.{{cite news |date=April 3, 1999 |title=Bunny roundup completed |url=https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/1999/04-03/0018_redmond__bunny_roundup_completed.html |work=Kitsap Sun |agency=Associated Press |access-date=March 31, 2019}} A moratorium on development was implemented by the city government of Redmond, which prevented further campus expansion. In 2001, Microsoft announced plans a satellite campus in Issaquah for 12,000 workers, but later reduced its scope. An expansion in Redmond was considered after options in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood were rejected.{{cite news |last=King |first=Harriet |date=May 4, 2005 |title=After Looking Elsewhere, Microsoft Will Expand at Home |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/business/after-looking-elsewhere-microsoft-will-expand-at-home.html |work=The New York Times |accessdate=May 26, 2024}}

In January 2006, Microsoft announced the purchase of Safeco's Redmond campus after the company had begun consolidating its offices at the Safeco Tower in Seattle's University District a year earlier.{{cite news|last=Bishop|first=Todd|date=January 19, 2006|title=Microsoft agrees to buy former Safeco site in Redmond|newspaper=Business Journals|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/01/16/daily15.html|access-date=January 15, 2008}} The following month, Microsoft announced that it intended to expand its Redmond campus by {{convert|1100000|sqft|m2}} at a cost of $1 billion and said that this would create space for between 7,000 and 15,000 new employees over the following three years.{{cite news |url= http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webmmsftbuild09&date=20060209 |date=February 9, 2006|title=Microsoft speeding up plans for huge campus redevelopment |last=Dudley |first=Brier|access-date=January 15, 2008|newspaper=The Seattle Times}} The campus expansion also included more prominent branding and additional recreation areas.{{cite news |last=Romano |first=Benjamin |date=November 11, 2007 |title=Microsoft campus expands, transforms, inside and out |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoft/2004007121_microsoft11.html |work=The Seattle Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112055842/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoft/2004007121_microsoft11.html |archive-date=November 12, 2007 |access-date=May 7, 2020}}

In 2009, a shopping mall called "The Commons" was completed on the campus, bringing {{convert|1.4|e6sqft|sqm}} of retail space as well as restaurants, a soccer field and a pub, to the West Campus.{{cite news |last=Chan |first=Sharon Pian |author-link=Sharon Chan (journalist) |date=April 20, 2009 |title=Microsoft workers get their very own mall, The Commons, on corporate campus |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsoft-workers-get-their-very-own-mall-the-commons-on-corporate-campus/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 21, 2015}} A set of treehouses were built on the campus in 2017 by American treehouse builder Pete Nelson, as well as an elevated outdoor lounge named the Crow's Nest.{{Cite news |last=Schlosser |first=Kurt |date=October 16, 2017 |title=Microsoft's new treehouse meeting spaces take advantage of nature around its sprawling campus |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2017/microsofts-new-treehouse-meeting-spaces-take-advantage-nature-around-sprawling-campus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018170227/https://www.geekwire.com/2017/microsofts-new-treehouse-meeting-spaces-take-advantage-nature-around-sprawling-campus/ |archive-date=October 18, 2017 |access-date=May 7, 2023 |website=Geekwire}}{{Cite web |last=Singer-Velush |first=Natalie |title=Meet me in the trees: new outdoor meeting spaces help employees reap the benefits of nature |url=https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/work-life/meet-me-in-the-trees/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428080423/https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/work-life/meet-me-in-the-trees/ |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |access-date=May 7, 2023 |website=Microsoft |language=en-US}}

File:Building92microsoft.jpg

File:A small treehouse on Microsoft campus.jpg, near Building 31]]

In September 2015, The Seattle Times reported that Microsoft had hired architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to begin a multibillion-dollar redesign of the Redmond campus, using an additional {{convert|1.4|e6sqft|m2}} permitted by an agreement with the City of Redmond.{{cite news |last1=Yu |first1=Hui-yong |last2=Bass |first2=Dina |date=September 4, 2015 |title=Microsoft considers multibillion-dollar overhaul to Redmond campus |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsoft-is-said-to-weigh-multibillion-campus-revamp/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=September 8, 2015}} The City of Redmond had also approved a rezone in February that year to raise the height limit for buildings on the campus from six stories to ten.{{cite news |last=Day |first=Matt |date=December 28, 2015 |title=Microsoft's next Redmond expansion expected to go vertical |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsofts-next-redmond-expansion-expected-to-go-vertical/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=December 28, 2015}}

In November 2017, Microsoft unveiled plans to demolish 12 buildings on the older East Campus and replace them with 18 new buildings, housing 8,000 additional employees and raising the total number of buildings on the campus to 131.{{cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Aric |date=November 29, 2017 |title=Microsoft Will Demolish Its Campus to Build a Mini-City |work=Fortune |url=http://fortune.com/2017/11/29/microsoft-redmond-campus-expansion/ |access-date=November 29, 2017}} The newer buildings would be arranged like an urban neighborhood, centered around a {{convert|2|acre|ha|adj=mid}} open space with sports fields (including a cricket pitch), retail space, and hiking trails.{{cite news |last=Soper |first=Taylor |date=December 8, 2017 |title=Microsoft plans world-class cricket pitch at Redmond HQ, in first for major U.S. tech campus |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2017/heres-microsoft-building-cricket-field-middle-redeveloped-campus/ |work=GeekWire |access-date=August 17, 2019}}{{cite news |last=Wingfield |first=Nick |date=November 29, 2017 |title=Microsoft to Expand Campus, as Amazon Looks Elsewhere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/realestate/commercial/microsoft-headquarters-redmond-washington.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 29, 2017}}{{cite news |last=Bass |first=Dina |date=November 28, 2017 |title=Microsoft Plans Multibillion-Dollar Campus Overhaul, Adding Open Spaces |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-29/microsoft-plans-multibillion-dollar-campus-overhaul-adding-open-spaces |work=Bloomberg News |access-date=November 29, 2017}} Demolition of the original buildings, including all of the original X-shaped offices built in the 1980s, began in January 2019 and was completed that September.{{cite news |last=Lerman |first=Rachel |date=November 10, 2018 |title=Microsoft alumni play one last game of hallway putt-putt before demolition |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsoft-alumni-play-one-last-game-of-hallway-putt-putt-before-demolition/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=November 10, 2018}}{{cite news |last=Novet |first=Jordan |date=January 8, 2019 |title=Microsoft begins demolishing buildings in Redmond campus remodel |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/microsoft-demolition-redmond-campus-remodel.html |publisher=CNBC |access-date=January 9, 2019}}

The expanded campus, scheduled to be completed in 2025, will have 17 office buildings and four floors of underground parking with capacity for 6,500 vehicles. The garage sits below a pedestrianized environment between the buildings, which are part of five "villages".{{cite news |date=June 4, 2024 |title=Microsoft East Campus Modernization shortlisted for international honor |url=https://www.djc.com/news/ae/12164152.html |work=Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce |accessdate=June 5, 2024}}{{cite news |last=Merten |first=Paxtyn |date=October 1, 2019 |title=Microsoft HQ adds underground parking, self-driving car drop-offs and transit-connected pedestrian bridge |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2019/10/01/microsoft-hq-adds-underground-parking-self-driving.html |work=Puget Sound Business Journal |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 2, 2019}} A {{convert|1,100|ft|m|adj=mid}} pedestrian bridge connects the new campus buildings to the Redmond Technology light rail station and the West Campus area.{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Brian |date=March 19, 2021 |title=Microsoft reports progress on sustainable Redmond HQ makeover |url=https://www.djc.com/news/re/12139095.html |work=Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce |url-access=subscription |accessdate=March 20, 2021}} A set of 875 wells to harness geothermal energy will provide heating and cooling to buildings on the campus through {{convert|220|mi|km}} of water pipes that comprise a geoexchange system.{{cite news |last=Lystra |first=Tony |date=March 19, 2021 |title=Microsoft's new Redmond utility plant to use earth's heat to slash energy use |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/03/19/microsoft-building-carbon-emissions.html |work=Puget Sound Business Journal |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}

The campus is located on both sides of the State Route 520 freeway, which connects it to the cities of Bellevue and Seattle as well as downtown Redmond. The two sides of the campus are connected by a series of pedestrian and vehicle overpasses that cross State Route 520.{{cite news |last=Lindblom |first=Mike |date=January 26, 2024 |title=New walk-bike bridge debugs access to Microsoft and light rail |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/new-walk-bike-bridge-debugs-access-to-microsoft-and-light-rail/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=March 24, 2024}} Microsoft partially covered the cost for an overpass over the freeway at NE 36th Street to relieve congestion on other cross-streets in the area.{{cite news |date=March 14, 2009 |title=Stimulus money goes for a bridge to Microsoft |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/stimulus-money-goes-for-a-bridge-to-microsoft/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 21, 2015}} Two more pedestrian bridges were jointly funded by Microsoft, the city government, and Sound Transit to connect the campus's light rail stations.{{cite news |last=Ervin |first=Keith |date=November 26, 2013 |title=Microsoft pitches in on bridge over Overlake Transit Center |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/microsoft-pitches-in-on-bridge-over-overlake-transit-center/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 21, 2015}}

File:Redmond Technology Station under construction, Sept. 2019.jpg, a Link light rail station on the Microsoft campus, under construction in September 2019]]

The campus is served by Seattle-area buses operated by Sound Transit and King County Metro that serve stops on State Route 520 and a central hub at Redmond Technology station. The RapidRide B Line also runs through the campus, connecting to downtown Bellevue and Redmond.{{cite web |title=Overlake Transit Center Boarding Locations |url=http://metro.kingcounty.gov/tops/parknride/boarding/overlake-tc.html |publisher=King County Metro |access-date=July 21, 2015}} The Overlake Transit Center opened in 2002 and was rebuilt into Redmond Technology station to serve Link light rail trains on the 2 Line, which is scheduled to open in April 2024.{{cite news |last1=Lindblom |first1=Mike |last2=Brooks |first2=Diane |date=February 2, 2002 |title=Modern transit centers for riders in Everett, Redmond to debut Monday |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20020202/transit02m/modern-transit-centers-for-riders-in-everett-redmond-to-debut-monday |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 15, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Oxley |first=Dyer |date=February 15, 2024 |title=Get ready, Eastside. Light rail is finally coming to Bellevue in April |url=https://www.kuow.org/stories/sound-transit-light-rail-eastside-opening |publisher=KUOW |accessdate=March 24, 2024}}

For employees, Microsoft also operates a private commuter bus service called Connector that provides express service from the Redmond campus to neighborhoods in Seattle, the Eastside, and Snohomish County.{{cite news |last=Long |first=Katherine |date=April 19, 2009 |title=Microsoft Connector: 19 routes, 53 buses later |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsoft-connector-19-routes-53-buses-later/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=March 24, 2024}}{{cite web |date=September 6, 2007 |title=The Connector Fact Sheet |url=https://news.microsoft.com/2007/09/06/the-connector-fact-sheet/ |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=December 12, 2015}} The company also runs a shuttle bus service, called the "Shuttle Connect", between buildings on the campus.{{cite web |title=Fostering Alternative Ways to Commute at Microsoft |publisher=Microsoft |url=http://www.microsoft.com/environment/our_commitment/articles/alternative_commuting.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501154211/http://www.microsoft.com/environment/our_commitment/articles/alternative_commuting.aspx |archive-date=May 1, 2008 |access-date=July 21, 2015}} Microsoft had proposed its own bus service as early as 1998 to augment existing public transit routes that serve the campus.{{cite news |last=Roe |first=Amy |date=September 25, 2007 |title=Climb on board the Microsoft bus |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/eastside/climb-on-board-the-microsoft-bus/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=March 24, 2024}} The service launched in September 2007 and grew into a network of 19 routes within two years; the buses have on-board Wi-Fi and are operated by MV Transportation. The shuttles were targeted in early 2014 as a symbol of gentrification in similar fashion to the San Francisco tech bus protests that same year.{{cite news |last=Bishop |first=Todd |date=February 10, 2014 |title=Activists block Microsoft shuttles in Seattle, in anti-gentrification protest |url=http://www.geekwire.com/2014/activists-block-microsoft-shuttles-anti-gentrification-protest/ |work=GeekWire |access-date=December 12, 2015}}{{cite news |last=Grande |first=Alison |date=February 10, 2014 |title=Microsoft Connector shuttles targeted by protestors |url=http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/microsoft-connector-shuttles-targeted-protestors/ndKRK/ |work=KIRO-TV |access-date=December 12, 2015}}{{cite news |last=Wingfield |first=Nick |date=February 10, 2014 |title=Seattle Gets Its Own Tech Bus Protest |url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/seattle-gets-its-own-tech-bus-protest/ |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 12, 2015}} The Connector system is allowed to use King County Metro bus stops in Seattle as part of a permit system for corporate shuttles established by the city government in 2017.{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Jessica |date=April 30, 2017 |title=A first-of-its-kind program: Microsoft, Seattle Children’s shuttles are now using Metro stops |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/a-first-of-its-kind-program-microsoft-seattle-childrens-shuttles-are-now-using-metro-stops/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=March 24, 2024}}{{cite news |last=Carder |first=Justin |date=September 19, 2022 |title=Seattle shaping plan to permanently share its bus stops with corporate shuttles at $5K a pop |url=https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2022/09/seattle-shaping-plan-to-permanently-share-its-bus-stops-with-corporate-shuttles-at-5k-a-pop/ |work=Capitol Hill Seattle Blog |accessdate=March 24, 2024}}

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{{Commons category|Microsoft Redmond campus}}

{{Microsoft}}

{{Redmond, Washington}}

Campus

Category:Information technology company headquarters in the United States

Category:Buildings and structures in Redmond, Washington

Category:Office buildings completed in 1986

Category:1986 establishments in Washington (state)

Category:Office buildings in Washington (state)