Three excavators strip the remaining slab as Onni 606 enters early earthwork

A coordinated slab-removal operation was under way at Onni 606 on Monday morning, July 13, marking another visible step beyond the demolition of the block's two former buildings. A high-resolution photograph taken at 10:18 a.m. shows three tracked excavators working the remaining concrete: one with a narrow attachment consistent with a hydraulic breaker, and two with buckets positioned to lift, sort and consolidate the fractured material. A yellow water truck stands beside the work area, equipment commonly used to control dust during concrete demolition.

The closer view resolves what looked from the distant construction camera like a single small machine making holes. A broad, sharply defined strip of slab has been removed, exposing shallow subgrade, while broken concrete is gathered into piles along its edges. This is systematic surface demolition and clearing rather than isolated probing. It is still visibly different from the deep foundation excavation planned for the project: the five-level garage dig would transform the four-acre block and require a shoring system around its perimeter, neither of which is present in the photograph.

The distinction is also present in Bellevue's permit record. Early-works clear-and-grade permit 21-133872-GD was issued December 23, 2025 and expressly covers early clearing and grading for mass excavation. Its preconstruction conferences were completed April 1 and June 17. The demolition permit likewise covers removal of the former buildings and associated pavement, while a June 5 city inspection note warned that excavation or shoring could not begin until the applicable permits were issued and preconstruction conferences completed.

The dedicated mass-excavation and shoring permit, 21-134212-BV, remains pending. Its most recent structural and geotechnical review entries, dated July 10, requested another revision and cited a geotechnical letter. The separate below-grade building permit for parking levels P2 through P5, 24-104362-BB, is also pending. As of July 13, the public record therefore supports calling the camera activity early earthwork or slab removal — not the official start of the full shored excavation.

Even with that caveat, the movement is significant. Multiple machines are now removing the hard surface across an expanding section of the site and exposing the ground beneath it. The next definitive milestone will be the shoring permit changing from Pending to Issued; until then, this is the prelude to the hole, not the hole itself.

Independent and unaffiliated with Onni Group. Written from the public City of Bellevue record; corrections via the contact form.