KENT, Wash. — Construction workers have raised the roof on a new headquarters and research-and-development facility for Blue Origin, the private space venture founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
For now, the roof protects a bare patch of concrete laid out on a 31-acre plot here in Kent, about 16 miles south of Seattle. But don’t be fooled by the spartan setting: Even on a Saturday, workers wearing hardhats were making progress on what’s expected eventually to become a 236,000-square-foot warehouse-style building and more than 100,000 square feet of office space.
Blue Origin purchased the site, on the opposite side of the street from the company’s existing 26-acre production facility and headquarters, from a longtime farming family in 2017 for $14.1 million. The company has also been using a 120,000-square-foot warehouse just up the street.
