Industry News

A subsidiary of Nestle SA, Alcon Laboratories Inc. is in the early stages of planning a 400,000-sf expansion of its Fort Worth R&D facility. Approval by Switzerland-based Nestle is pending for construction of the $20-million to $30-million expansion.

TestChip Technologies is expanding from 4,000 sf to  30,000 sf in Austin as part of the company's drive to increase its R&D work. A developer of chips that test the semiconductor manufacturing process, the Plano-based firm will be adding 100 employees to its Texas operations. TestChip primarily supplies wafer foundries.

Turner Broadcasting System Inc. broke ground on its Techwood campus in Atlanta in March 2000.  Development of the campus network operations facility and office building is slated to move forward ahead of schedule, with the next phase of construction to begin in 2002. Despite design completion, however, development of TBS' new office tower has been pushed back from 2002 to 2004 in order to focus on the Techwood facilities. 

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s credit card division is building a three-story, 152,000-sf call center in the Westover Hills on the north side of San Antonio. $24.9 million was expended on land purchase and construction costs for the new facility, which will house up to 400 additional employees.  Construction on the project began in December and is slated for completion in January 2002.

McDonald's is making downtown Bethesda the site of its regional corporate operations. Relocating 150 to 170 employees from Fairfax, Baltimore, and Herndon offices, the regional headquarters will also provide meeting and training space for more than 80 managers and franchisees.