Brier Dudley's Blog

Brier Dudley offers a critical look at technology and business issues affecting the Northwest.

July 10, 2008 2:11 PM

Big Fish swims across Seattle

Seattle casual gaming giant Big Fish Games has outgrown its pond at the Century Square building downtown.

Two weeks from now, it's moving into two floors of a building along Elliott Avenue where it will share space with F5 (in the newer building along the F5 corridor, the one with a light yellow masonry base).

On the west side, the new building's wall is curved so 70 percent of the space should have a view of Elliott Bay. That means Big Fishers may see real fish, in addition to those in a huge new aquarium ordered by founder Paul Thelen.

Altogether Big Fish will have 58,000-square-feet of space, up from about 33,000 it has on the eighth and 20th floors at Century Square. That provides room to expand beyond the 300 employees (including 60 contractors) the company now employs.

Thelen lives only 10 blocks from the new office -- he timed his commute at 2 minutes, 37 seconds with favorable stoplights -- but he insists that didn't guide the property search.

Despite the economic situation, Seattle's commercial real estate market is still tight and Big Fish searched from Pioneer Square to Fremont to Capitol Hill until it found the right spot.

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