10 tower projects that will change the Seattle area Some are unique, some are just big and some are both

Four towers of Google along Mercer Street

Vulcan Real Estate announced last week that it is working with Google to develop a new campus for the tech giant in South Lake Union, stealing at least a little of Amazon's fire for swallowing up all the real estate in the area. The project will include four six-story buildings with more than 600,000 square feet of office space and another 14,000 square feet of ground-floor space for retail. It may not be the biggest development to hit Seattle, but it's only the latest in a series of big-time projects that are going to drastically change the look of downtown Seattle and the region as a whole. Click through to see nine others. less Four towers of Google along Mercer Street

Vulcan Real Estate announced last week that it is working with Google to develop a new campus for the tech giant in South Lake Union, stealing at least a little of ... more Photo: GRAPHITE DESIGN GROUP/VULCAN REAL ESTATE Photo: GRAPHITE DESIGN GROUP/VULCAN REAL ESTATE Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close 10 tower projects that will change the Seattle area 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

With the news last week that Google is planning a move to South Lake Union, it seemed time to revisit big developments around Seattle.

For its part, Google is working with Vulcan Real Estate to build four six-story buildings for a total of 607,000 square feet of office space along Mercer Street.

While that's not the biggest single development around, it certainly isn't anything to laugh at.

Amazon's campus in the Denny Triangle is coming along nicely, with one 36-story tower open since December, the other tower scheduled to open this summer, and the company's unique glass spheres taking shape quickly. All told, that campus will boast something more than 4 million square feet of office space, and is only part of the e-commerce giant's expansion in real estate footprint.

Elsewhere around downtown and the region (I'm looking at you, Bellevue), 40-something-story towers seem to abound, most with plans heavy on the residential side, but some will include office, hotel and retail space.

The end of all this surge in development seems nowhere in sight, but the impacts already are being felt.

The Puget Sound Business Journal reported last week that the apartment vacancy rate in Seattle is already at its highest since 2010 -- and that's with thousands of apartment units on track to open this year.

Increases in rent seem to be easing, but when most of the available rental stock is in shiny, new, high-end apartments, all the vacancy in the world won't do squat for someone looking for a $1,000-per-month place to live.

It's already clear that even when Seattleites are earning at least $15 an hour, they will struggle to afford the cost of living here.

Still, with tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook bringing even more high-paid tech workers to town, it seems as if those new apartments won't stay empty forever.

Of course, if the economy slows down, the region could find itself with even more empty apartments and office space -- and still no room for all of its homeless people.

We gathered 10 of the most notable developments underway or planned in Seattle (and one in Bellevue). Some are just unique, like the twisty tower planned for Fairview Avenue North, while others are large, such as Google's, and still others are both, such as Amazon's towers and spheres.

Click through to get a glimpse of how different Seattle will look (and feel) once these developments have come to fruition.

Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, business and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.