July 2026 progress report: Onni 606 moves into early earthwork

Six excavators, a dozer and a water truck spread across the graded Onni 606 construction site in Downtown Bellevue on July 21, 2026. — By July 21, six excavators and a dozer occupied a broad early-works area across the former Barnes & Noble and John Danz Theatre block. Photo provided to onni606.com.

Visual comparison

Three excavators breaking and clearing remaining concrete slab at Onni 606 on July 13, 2026. — July 13 — the earliest verified comparison visual used in this report, not a claimed July 1 condition.

Six excavators across a broad graded early-earthwork area at Onni 606 on July 21, 2026. — July 21 — the latest verified comparison visual used in this report, not a claimed July 31 condition.

Monthly evidence snapshot

July 2026 · cutoff July 31, 2026Human-reviewed after the completed month

First verified visual: July 13, 2026 at 10:18 a.m. PDT — the earliest comparable visual reviewed for this report, not a claimed calendar-month opening frame.
Last verified visual: July 21, 2026 at 2:28 p.m. PDT — the latest comparable visual reviewed for this report, not a claimed month-end frame.
Physical work: Between the verified July 13 and July 21 visuals, remaining slab removal gave way to broad, shallow early grading across most of the visible block. A July 28 city inspection separately documented soil export; no later comparable visual was used to infer the July 31 condition.
Permit movement: Tower 2 received another structural revision request July 23. Fire reviews advanced the still-pending fuel-cube and utility-extension permits July 29; shoring and below-grade structure permits remained pending at cutoff.
Environmental record: Ecology's public file had no decision newer than the June 11 quarterly report by the July 31 cutoff. Bellevue's July 28 soil-export note did not identify the material as contaminated or state its destination.
Activity-data caveat: Reviewed still images and camera-derived counts show equipment present and observed traffic, not workforce, productivity, excavated volume, material classification or continuous machine operation.
Current phase: Early grading, shallow excavation and documented soil export under issued permit 21-133872-GD; not the full shored garage excavation.
Next verified gate: City issuance of the perimeter-shoring and below-grade permits, followed by visible support-of-excavation work.

Still unknown: The record through July 31 did not establish the physical condition after the July 21 comparison image, a deep-excavation start date, exported-soil volume, environmental classification or destination, or contractor production rates.

This human-reviewed report closes the July record at July 31 and was published after the month ended. Its visual comparison does not pretend to show calendar endpoints: July 13 is the earliest verified comparable image reviewed for the report, and July 21 is the latest. The remaining ten days are described only where a dated public inspection or permit record supports the statement.

The verified visual sequence shows a real physical change. On July 13, three excavators were breaking and sorting a sharply bounded strip of remaining slab. A July 17 camera frame shows a broader shallow cut, exposed soil and dump-truck activity. By July 21, six excavators and a tracked dozer were visible across a wider, smoother graded area, with broken material more concentrated near the northeast and foreground edges. Different framing prevents a reliable area or volume calculation.

Bellevue's inspection record extends the documentary account beyond the last comparison image. The city marked an erosion-control inspection Partial with Corrections on July 14, recorded another as Ongoing on July 20 and, at a July 28 job conference, directed crews to maintain a mechanical street sweeper while exporting soils. The July 28 note establishes that soil was leaving under the issued early-grading permit; it gives no volume, destination or environmental classification.

Permit movement through the cutoff did not release the deep phase. Tower 2's structural reviewer requested another revision July 23. Fire reviews advanced the still-pending fuel-cube and utility-extension applications July 29, but those discipline approvals were not permit issuances. The dedicated mass-excavation and shoring permit and below-grade structure permit also remained Pending on July 31.

The environmental record remained separate. Ecology's public cleanup file had no decision newer than the June 11 quarterly report by the cutoff, and that report still anticipated post-demolition characterization followed by later remedial excavation. Nothing in Bellevue's July 28 inspection identifies the exported soil as contaminated, so this report does not connect those loads to a cleanup waste stream or receiving facility.

The completed-month finding is therefore bounded: Onni 606 was in early grading, shallow excavation and documented soil export under permit 21-133872-GD, not the full shored five-level garage excavation. The next verified gate was city issuance of the shoring and below-grade permits followed by visible support-of-excavation work. The exact condition after July 21, deep-dig start date, soil volumes, destination and production rate remained unknown at the July 31 cutoff.

Sources

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