San Francisco vs. Seattle: Reasons to Consider Expanding Your Business to the Emerald City


Currently pre-leasing, MSRE’s 800 Alaskan building is slated to open in Spring 2022. The property will be a gateway to Seattle’s new 20-acre waterfront park and features sustainable office space that caters to the specific operational demands of tenants across submarkets.

San Francisco may symbolize the center of the tech hemisphere, but the California city doesn’t hold the monopoly on innovation or commercial office space. And it certainly isn’t the only business hub where talent and tech are synced in perfect harmony. The city of Seattle demands attention as a location for West Coast business operations.

Seattle is known for its stunning beauty, but the city’s natural resources aren’t limited to Puget Sound — they include exceptional office space, a lower cost of living, and the talent necessary to push boundaries and facilitate unprecedented business growth. Google and Facebook love the Pacific Northwest weather. Redfin, Juno Therapeutics and Weyerhaeuser frequent our coffee shops and light rail stations. And this just in: SalesForce is buying Tableau and asserting its SaaS dominance by establishing its HQ2 in Seattle. These investments are healthy signs of the vitality the Emerald City will enjoy for years to come — proof that Seattle’s tech heritage and energy will continue to propel people and ideas forward.

Expanding operations to Seattle requires office space that caters to the unique operational demands of your business and its personnel.

Martin Selig Real Estate (MSRE) specializes in commercial office space that merges visionary design and functional performance. MSRE is a full-spectrum development and management real estate company with 5 million square-feet of downtown Seattle office space and another 1.7 million square-feet currently in development. Since 1958, MSRE has crafted Seattle’s international identity by transforming the Emerald City skyline and supporting tenants with the uncompromising personal attention. MSRE is an elite company, one of the largest landlords in the nation that doesn’t rely on outside equity investment. Decisions remain local, helping ensure a positive and innovative experience for tenants.

Through its commercial properties, MSRE is ready to help revolutionize the Seattle tech marketplace. Available in Fall 2019, 15th and Market is an ultra-modern property centered in Ballard’s cultural hub, just west of Fremont in North Seattle. Coming in Spring 2022, new developments 800 Alaskan and 400 Westlake are designed to adapt to the technical and functional demands of tenants. Located in the downtown neighborhood of South Lake Union, 400 Westlake, is elevating Seattle’s standards for environmental sustainability.

Expanding your business from San Francisco to Seattle provides plenty of additional benefits beyond the availability of innovative office space.

The Benefits of Seattle – Why Establishing Your Business in the Emerald City Pays Long-Term Dividends

The first benefit cannot be overstated: Seattle businesses pay no state income tax. San Francisco has plenty of inherent merits, but its tax structure is not one of them. Operating in Seattle immediately reduces a major overhead cost, allowing a significant expense to be repurposed for pressing business demands. The difference in cost-of-living in Seattle, compared to San Francisco, impacts overhead costs as well. According to a 2019 article published via The Seattle Times, San Francisco now has the highest salaries in the world. Cost of living in San Francisco requires higher employee salaries across all skill levels.

Seattle offers talent at a slightly reduced cost, but that doesn’t mean that the individual contributors in Seattle are any less extraordinary. The tech talent in the Pacific Northwest, groomed and recruited by in-demand, home-grown companies such as Amazon and Microsoft to name a few, provide the tools necessary to solve, refine and execute efficient tech solutions that foster growth.Seattle businesses thrive thanks to the diverse voices and ideas that contribute to the local fabric of the Emerald City. Entry level and experienced talent eye Seattle as an appealing destination to work and live.

Seattle is booming, it’s growing and achieving the needs of its residents’ and business leaders’. As a senior leasing agent with MSRE, Theresa Howard helps align the needs of her clients with the office space that facilitates their long-term business goals. “Most Landlords are institutional,” says Howard. “Being a family-owned and -operated business puts the focus on holding the properties long term, thereby necessitating the fostering of good relationships with our tenants.” This client-first focus helps new businesses feel at home.

MSRE’s diverse portfolio of properties offers tech businesses an easy transition to the Pacific Northwest. San Francisco will always remain a major metropolis with inherent benefits all its own. But tech businesses require room to grow along with the freedom to expand and evolve. Seattle businesses will continue to prosper, working alongside innovative companies that collectively seek to revolutionize the global marketplace.

Choose the commercial office space real estate company that offers the sustainable resources that will help your business and its talented employees thrive. Choose MSRE.

If you’re considering expanding your business to Seattle, contact MSRE’s leasing agents today.