Mega-developer Michael Rosenfeld has put Amazon’s new downtown digs — where highly paid brainiacs figure out how Alexa can better serve users — on the market for $38.4 million after having paid $18 million for the former suite of Saks Fifth Avenue at State and Carrillo streets.
Rosenfeld reportedly put $9 million into the property in improvements, and Amazon put in another $11 million, making it, for all practical purposes, a brand-new building. Listing agent Austin Herlihy stated there have been a couple of legitimate offers on the property thus far, and last Friday alone 56 nondisclosure agreements reportedly were signed by interested parties and their agents.
Amazon, which began leasing the 47,000-square-foot building in 2018, currently employs 75 workers at the Santa Barbara location, according to an Amazon rep last month. However, the company plans to add another 150-200 in the coming years. The sale should not affect Amazon’s lease.
