Vulcan Inc.
Vulcan LLC is a privately held company founded by the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his sister Jody Allen in 1986 to establish and oversee the family's diverse business activities and philanthropic endeavors. It includes Vulcan Real Estate, the Paul G. Allen Estate and Trust, and advises the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Vulcan LLC is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. History Vulcan Northwest was formed in Bellevue, Washington in 1986 to manage the business affairs, investments, and philanthropic affairs of Paul Allen. The company initially had a Pacific Northwest focus. The company's headquarters moved from Bellevue to Seattle in 1998. In 2001, they dropped "Northwest" from the company name to reflect growing global ventures. In 2010, the Green Sports Alliance was conceived and founded by Vulcan Inc. and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Inaugural members and partners included Vulcan ventures such as the Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers, and Seattle Sounders FC. Green Sports Alliance Members made a variety of commitments to improve their environmental performance such as reducing waste, conserving energy and water, and eliminating toxic chemicals. Following Paul Allen's death in 2018, Vulcan co-executive Jody Allen—who also serves as the estate’s executor and trustee—has taken the lead strategic role at Vulcan. This has included instigating a process to assess the various Vulcan projects and enterprises based on either profit or philanthropic impact. Vulcan had approximately 700 employees as of mid-2019, and in October 2019 was reducing some of those positions. Areas of focus Vulcan Real Estate Vulcan's Real Estate division offers development and portfolio management services from site selection and urban planning to build-to-suit construction. Vulcan has developed 6.6 million square feet of new residential, office, retail and biotechnology research space and has a total development capacity of 10,000,000 square feet (930,000 m2). Vulcan Real Estate redeveloped the South Lake Union neighborhood north of downtown Seattle and along the south shore of Lake Union. More than $5.7 billion has been invested in the neighborhood since 2002 for development projects and public infrastructure improvements. Vulcan advocated for the Seattle Streetcar line known as South Lake Union Streetcar, which runs from Seattle's Westlake Center to the south end of Lake Union. The streetcar officially started operation on December 12, 2007. This development has been criticized as a city-supported real estate investment for Vulcan Inc., and concerns over the loss of low-income housing have been expressed.. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal called Allen's South Lake Union investment "unexpectedly lucrative" and one that led to his firm selling a 1,800,000 square feet (170,000 m2) office complex to Amazon.com for US$1.16 billion, one of the most expensive office deals ever in Seattle. "It's exceeded my expectations," Mr. Allen said of the South Lake Union development. The company also developed a five-building complex for Google near Lake Union Park that is planned to open in stages between 2019 and 2022. In late February 2022, Vulcan Real Estate sold the two-block, four building Google campus overlooking Seattle’s Lake Union for $802 million, a price