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Brian Miller
Real Estate Editor

April 3, 2025

On The Block: What's driving Inrix from Kirkland to Bellevue?

Twenty-year-old transportation data company Inrix has long been based at Kirkland's Plaza Yarrow Bay. That's going to change. In its recent Eastside office report, Broderick Group said the firm is moving to the Bellefield Office Park in Bellevue. Into which of the 15 buildings there wasn't specified. Broderick seems to have represented Inrix in the sublease.

Inrix, a private company with its roots at Microsoft, didn't announce the relocation in a conventional manner. Instead of a press release, CEO and founder Bryan Mistele used X (fka Twitter) last month to blame the move on the city of Kirkland and a planned Health for Housing facility near its current HQ.

Photo via Newmark [enlarge]
Bellefield Office Park does have the virtue of being near the Wilburton Park & Ride, but the 2 Line’s light-rail stations aren’t really near.

On X, Mistele wrote, “This week @INRIX signed a lease which will move us out of Kirkland which has been our home for the past 18 years. Why? @KirklandGov made a decision to put a homeless hotel right across the street from our current HQ, in the backyard of #EastsidePrep and next door to @Burgermaster. No drug testing required, no treatment required and no real supervision on-site.”

Mistele's complaint was widely reported last month, along with a stern rebuttal from the city. But let's back up a bit.




As the DJC reported three years ago, King County then acquired the empty former La Quinta Inn & Suites, with the intent to help folks transition out of homelessness via its Health Through Housing initiative. That was among a series of post-pandemic purchases of old motels for the same purpose. The La Quinta is still empty and fenced; no one has moved in. Following the 2022 purchase, Plymouth Housing was named as the future facility operator at 10530 Northup Way, which is planned to open at some point this year.

Using Google maps, I'd say the latter is about a nine-minute walk west to Plaza Yarrow Bay, which is mostly owned by Clarion Partners. There, Inrix is giving up 27,191 square feet in Building III. Newmark is now tasked with filling the space.

That's not a pedestrian friendly area. Most know it for the on- and off-ramps to state Route 520. Besides the Burgermaster, its main amenity is the nice new Kitchen & Market, which recently opened in the former Big Fish Grill building.

[enlarge]
Inrix is giving up 27,191 square feet in Building III at Plaza Yarrow Bay. Newmark is now tasked with filling the space.

Is that Burgermaster-Northup area really about to become more dangerous? Citing the right-leaning local think tank the Discovery Institute, Kirkland resident Mistele wrote, “Where this experiment has happened before in King County, crime rates have risen since according to reliable data.”

Crime rates, as any responsible statistician will tell you, rise and fall for many, many reasons, and they vary from area to area and time to time. Up during the pandemic, down since, violent crime versus property crime, worse in downtown Seattle than bucolic Kirkland (or Bellevue), fentanyl versus crack … there's a lot to unpack.

The city and Plymouth immediately pushed back against Mistele's claims. (He's not alone; there has been community opposition as well.) In a statement emailed to media, the city said it was “disappointed” by the Inrix move. But, it added, “The safety of the facility's residents, surrounding businesses and the community is the city's top priority. The city supports the facility to provide stable and safe homes for up to 102 disabled and chronically unhoused individuals while also being a positive addition to the community.”

For its part, Plymouth said that it does screen its tenants. It also published a very detailed, eight-point code of conduct for the Kirkland facility. Among those bullet points, it teases out the dynamic of what might be called a low-barrier “wet shelter,” in the parlance of the trade. That is, private conduct remains private within one's room. But shared spaces (and outside) are to be free of smoking, alcohol and drugs.

The whole point to supportive housing is to meet the client/tenant where he or she is at … then provide services to help end or manage addiction or substance abuse. It's housing first, treatment second. If someone commits a crime or causes a disturbance, the police are called — just like any apartment building or shelter. And the city and its police department are now devising a public safety plan to complement Plymouth's code of conduct for its tenants.




Not that Inrix will, over in Bellefield, be affected by any of that. Its new home there is at 1756 114th Ave. S.E., in a sublease deal from main tenant Edifecs, a fellow software firm. The space is now being configured by Seven Goats Construction and JPC Architects. Inrix is taking 35,000 square feet, half of Edifecs' space. That's up slightly from its Kirkland footprint. And now is a good time for tenants to sign a cheap, favorable lease, when office demand is so soft.

Inrix had, pre-pandemic, about 400 employees worldwide. In the tech realm, remote work is hardly uncommon, and Inrix regularly publishes data on how telecommuting and WFH affect traffic and commute times. That is, after all, its core business.

What the Yarrow Bay and Bellefield office parks have in common is their car-centric suburban office park vibe. You drive to work, past empty sidewalks, park in a secure garage, and never need to leave the campus during office hours. No one begs for change outside your lobby. Bellefield, just west of Interstate 405, does have the virtue of being near the Wilburton Park & Ride. But the 2 Line's light-rail stations aren't really near.




Footnote: The DJC and others reported in January that the entire 56-acre Bellefield Office Park, with over 500,000 square feet, is on the block, with Newmark as the broker. Broderick's first quarter report now calls the offering a bank sale. Lionstone Investments and Talon Private Capital acquired the park in 2014 for about $120 million, then sold one building two years ago. The park is now about 80% occupied, which is actually quite good during a down market.

Says Broderick, “The property has attracted strong interest and multiple offers.” Bank of America loaned $110 million for Bellefield in 2019. We'll see how that figure compares to a possible sale price this year.


Got a tip? Contact DJC real estate editor Brian Miller at brian.miller@djc.com or call him at (206) 219-6517.


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