Fast-growing daily deal service Zulily has signed a letter-of-intent to occupy a large portion of the Seattle Trade & Technology Center along Elliott Avenue, GeekWire has earned. A deal has been rumored for months, but the letter-of-intent is the first solid signal that the heavily-funded company is pushing forward with its plan for the space.
The 335,515 square-foot building — originally a warehouse and manufacturing facility for the American Can Corp. — is the longtime headquarters of RealNetworks. It is also located next door to the Seattle Art Museum’s new sculpture park. We’re hearing that Zulily is looking to take over about two thirds of the space.
It’s unclear what that means for RealNetworks. We have an email into the company and will update this post as we hear more. The Art Institute of Seattle also is a tenant.
UPDATE: A RealNetworks spokesman declined to comment, noting that their lease is set to expire in September 2014.
Zulily, which raised $85 million at a $1 billion valuation last year, is growing fast.
The company now employs more than 600 people — the vast majority at an old brick building in Seattle’s Sodo district on 1st Avenue South. Zulily boasts more than 10 million members, largely moms who subscribe to get the company’s daily deal offers on clothes, toys and accessories for babies and kids.
If Zulily follows through with an actual lease for the building, it would be one of the largest for a startup technology company in the city in recent years.
It would also mark the latest office move for the company, which is currently operating out of its fourth office since it was founded four years ago by former Blue Nile execs Mark Vadon and Darrell Cavens.
