Amazon Plans Three Skyscrapers in Seattle

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), one of the fastest growing companies in the world, is continuing its global expansion with a deal that will transform the skyline of its hometown, Seattle.

Amazon is No. 213 on the IBTimes1000 list, a proprietary compilation of the world's fastest growing publicly traded companies. The company's compound annual growth rate over the last three years was 34 percent, with 2011 revenue increasing to $43.59 billion from $18.135 billion in 2008.

The company, founded in 1994, grew slowly to become a global distributor, finally posting a profit in the fourth quarter of 2001. It has parterned with a slew of other companies, from Target to DC Comics, expanding its wares. It entered the e-book reader fray with the Kindle, launched in 2007, and launched the Kindle Fire last year, competing with Apple's iPad and Barnes & Noble's Nook.

Amazon hasn't disclosed Kindle sales and missed analysts' expectations in the fourth quarter, with revenue of $17.4 billion falling short of forecasts. Stocks fell on Feb. 1 by 7.7 percent, but have recovered to around $183 per share as of Friday.

The online retailer has agreed to purchase three development parcels in the city and plans a trio of office towers, each one up to million square feet, the Seattle Times reported.

Family-owned Clise Properties Inc. is the seller.

Seneca Real Estate Group Inc., Amazon's real estate consultant, filed plans for the new buildings. The move would increase downtown office space in the area by seven percent, adding the rough equivalent of an Empire State Building to the area, if maximum air rights were used. The zoning allows a building height of 500 feet, or around 40 stories.

Details regarding an architect or the specific buildings haven't been revealed.

Other major tech companies, such as Apple and Facebook, are known for their lavish suburban campuses. But Amazon has broken the mold by choosing to build in an urban environment. (Although it has its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Google bought 111 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan for $1.8 billion, one of the largest deals of 2010.)

Amazon is currently leasing around 4 million square feet of office space, much of it in the Seattle area, along with 44.1 million square feet of warehouse space, according to its last annual report.

The company, founded in 1994, grew slowly to become a global distributor, finally posting a profit in the fourth quarter of 2001. It has parterned with a slew of other companies, from Target to DC Comics, expanding its wares. It entered the e-book reader fray with the Kindle, launched in 2007, and launched the Kindle Fire last year, competing with Apple's iPad and Barnes & Noble's Nook.

Amazon hasn't diclosed Kindle sales and missed analysts' expectations in the fourth quarter, with revenue of $17.4 billion falling short of forecasts. Stocks fell on Feb. 1 by 7.7 percent, but have recovered to around $183 per share as of Friday.