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valara, a tax software firm based in Durham, North Carolina, is relocating from its 152,400-square-foot headquarters in Seattle's Pioneer Square. The company has signed a sublease for a 33,800-square-foot office at the historic Maritime Building on the waterfront. Avalara will exit its former headquarters early next year after relocating there in June.

    The Maritime Building, which was renovated and expanded by Beacon Capital Partners in 2018, offers 153,000 square feet available for lease. Avalara's sublease was brokered by Matt Hermsen of Flinn Ferguson Cresa, who represented Big Fish Games, the building's owner. Hermsen notes that office market activity is starting to pick up as companies bring employees back to the office full-time.

    The Seattle office vacancy rate in the second quarter stood at 15%, 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2020. Avalara will join consulting firm Slalom, which took up multiple floors in the building late last year and renamed it Slalom Hawk Tower.