It wasn't possible, Macy's abandoned that location. Shortly afterwards there was a shootout right outside (at peak hour) and an engineer was shot in the mayhem. Nowdays thats just another day in Seattle, with the second highest growth in murder of any city in the US!

I actually know that intersection (3rd/Pike) quite well and think the issue is more the 7/11, cigar shop, and major bus transfer point than the McDonalds in attracting loiterers/criminals.

I was wondering how it was possible for Macy's retail employees to work in the mall prior to Amazon's purchase, but how it was unsuitable for software engineers. Surely at one point the Macy's employees were selling fancy clothes, perfumes, and housewares from that location...

Retail can be soul-draining, some places more than others.

I'm sure the costs would be prohibitive at most malls, but the best use of a mall I can think of would be to use the former stores for SCIFs and other secure work areas, onsite hosting, etc. then maximize skylights for the central atrium. The lack of windows in the former store spaces works in one's favor in these use cases.