Which video-game company from outside the Seattle region is putting down stakes in Redmond?
That’s the burning question after real estate firm CBRE announced in a news release Tuesday afternoon that a 25,000-square-foot office at Redmond’s West Willows Technology Center had been leased by “a new to the area tenant specializing in video game technology.”
CBRE and others associated with the property declined to identify the company, saying the tenant didn’t want the information to be public.
GeekWire went to the site today seeking any hints as to who it could be, but the people we spoke with there didn’t know, and there were no signs or other clues giving it away.
“The company was originally prioritizing the Bellevue CBD but quickly realized that the Redmond submarket would better accommodate the demands of their production and office requirement,” the news release said. “CBRE was able to successfully allocate 9,000 square feet to suit their immediate need while a state-of-the-art facility was designed and built to their specifications.
So who is it?
One possible answer is Oculus, the Facebook-owned virtual reality company, which announced in March that it planned to open a Seattle office. We’ve contacted Oculus representatives to find out if they’re the mystery tenant.
Separately, Redmond-based PlayNetwork has significantly expanded its presence in the same complex, according to the same news release.
At the building today, we talked to neighboring tenants and employees of other tech companies in the area, but none knew anything about the new tenants. Currently, neither of the newly leased suites is open. One of the suites is completely empty and going through a remodel and the other is completely locked up and closed off.
Whoever it is, this secret tenant is doing a good job at keeping us guessing! We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.