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Mayor announces Expedia's move from Bellevue to Seattle

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SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Ed Murray officially announced Thursday that travel giant Expedia is moving from downtown Bellevue to Seattle.

The news was so big and unexpected that many people thought it was an April Fool's joke.

The news took Expedia employee Robert Ochoa by surprise. He said the move will not set Bellevue too far back with the loss.

"I think it'll definitely be filled eventually, the short term impact will be felt, but I think it'll recover," said Ochoa.

The move will mean about 3,000 jobs will eventually leave the Eastside and relocate to Seattle.

Expedia will move to the recently vacated Amgen 40-acre waterfront campus on Smith Cove in the Interbay neighborhood.

Company officials say Expedia will close on the $228.9 million purchase in the second quarter of this year.

Amgen, a biotech company, recently announced it is shutting down its Puget Sound operations by the end of 2015, affecting more than 600 employees.

A company spokesman told PSBJ the Amgen campus has room for more buildings.

That fits right into Expedia's plan, because it's on a roll lately in its efforts to acquire smaller competitors like Travelocity and compete with fellow juggernaut Priceline.com.

Businesses in the Interbay neighborhood near the site cheered the move.

“However many were at Amgen, that was quite a loss,” said Richard Kinssies of Seattle Wine Outlet.  “With more people there will be a certain percentage of wine drinkers, and they’ll be welcome here.”

Across Lake Washington in Bellevue, the move is cause for concern.  Some Expedia employees expressed concern about commuting for work. The company's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said 75 percent of Expedia's employees are on Eastside, but their commute is expected to only increase five to six minutes.

Downtown Bellevue workers also acknowledged that the vacating of most of a high-rise will affect local bars, restaurants and service industry establishments.  However, most expect a quick bounce-back with demand for office space still very high.

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