Boeing Puts Commercial Airplanes HQ In Renton Up For Sale

RENTON, WA —Boeing has listed its Commercial Airplanes headquarters in Renton up for sale, according to reports, adding to the growing number of properties it is attempting to unload around the Puget Sound region as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

The airline’s 215-acre Longacres campus was put up for sale on Tuesday, a Boeing spokesman confirmed to Patch. The site has been added to the number of office properties that Boeing is attempting to rid itself of — including two large buildings in Renton and Bellevue. The spokesman said that the properties Boeing has listed for sale represents a 6 percent net reduction of office space in the region.

Even with the sale of the properties that are being offered up for sale, Boeing still has more 35 million square feet of office space that is either owned or leased by Boeing. Because of the impact the pandemic has had on the commercial airline industry, Boeing had previously announced it is reviewing every piece of real estate it operates out of around the globe, the spokesman said.

The intent is to see how the company can be more efficient while adjusting its customer needs. Boeing announced previously that is plans to reduce its existing office space by around 30 percent.

"As we have said, we have been looking to make the most efficient use of our office and factory space," a Boeing spokesman said in a company-issued statement emailed to Patch on Tuesday. "The global pandemic accelerated our journey and we are adapting to the realities of the market, while also implementing virtual and hybrid working opportunities like many businesses locally and around the world.

Listing the Commercial Airplanes headquarters site is part of an ongoing effort for Boeing to rid itself of about 2.5 million square feet of offices, the Seattle Times reported Tuesday. A Boeing spokesperson wrote in an email that selling off the offices is not, however, a reflection on the company’s commitment to remain in Washington over the long haul.

"We remain committed to the Puget Sound region. We have more employees and more office and factory space here than anywhere in the world," the spokesman said in the emailed statement. "We have invested billions of dollars at our sites, including our advanced Composite Wing Center in Everett. The leadership of our Boeing Commercial Airplanes business remains in the Puget Sound region.”

Conrad Chun, who is vice president of communications for the Commercial Airplanes Division, indicated to the Seattle Times that remote work is still an option for Boeing executives. He also cited the 15,000 jobs that Boeing eliminated in the state during 2020 as a reason for the desire to relinquish office space around the globe.

But as the travel industry continues to be impacted by the ongoing pandemic and many corporations are giving their employees options where they work, Boeing does not need the amount of office space that it currently owns, which has more to do with the listing of the space than it does with hw invested Boeing is to the Puget Sound area, a spokesman told Patch on Tuesday.

“We are going to be more flexible in where and how people work,” Chun told the newspaper. “People will not be tied to large offices but when they need to be, they will be closer to where production and delivery occurs.”