High Tech

Cisco Systems, based in San Jose, Calif., recently began construction at its nine-building campus on three 200,000-sf buildings: buildings 10, 11, and 12. These buildings were designed by O'Brien/Atkins Associates of Durham, N.C. Bovis/Lend Lease, based in Raleigh, N.C., is the general contractor. Completion is planned for 2001, when construction will begin on three more buildings--buildings 13, 14, and 15--which will total 500,000 sf. Cisco currently houses 3,000 employees at the site.

The San Diego Network Operations Center, a facility that will house the Navy Marine Corps’ Intranet project, will be built in the Rear Adm. Grace Hopper Building at San Diego’s North Island Naval Air Station. Plano, Texas-based Electronic Data Services Corp. (EDS) is heading the multi-contractor project. EDS will locate its project headquarters, technology integration lab, and the Western help desk for the huge network in a 140,000-sf facility in San Diego.

Applied Materials, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has plans for a 300,000-sf manufacturing center at its Austin campus. The new structure will produce 300mm wafer fabrication equipment. There are currently only one or two plants in the world that produce equipment to manufacture the larger diameter 300mm wafers. The company is requesting qualifications from design and construction firms.

Storage Networks Inc. has begun moving its 600 employees into a new 130,000-sf world headquarters in Waltham that will house a global operations center for the Internet storage company. In addition, the facility provides office space, a test lab, and an executive briefing center to accommodate potential customers, investors, analysts, and the media. The structure, originally built in the 1950s, was completely gutted and renovated, including all new infrastructure. The architectural firm of Margulies & Associates of Boston designed the facility.

Zygo TeraOptix, based in Holliston, Mass., has a $9-million renovation and expansion under way in Westborough at a newly purchased 87,000-sf facility. A 33,500-sf expansion will create a new floor within one section of the structure that has 50'-high ceilings, bringing the total space available to 120,000 sf. Employees began occupying approximately 30,000 sf of the building in December 2000. Manufacturing operations for the optical networking company will be shifted from Holliston to the new facility when construction is completed.

The Yamacraw Design Center,  the facility that will house Georgia’s initiative for technology economic development in broadband telecommunications, is being developed in Midtown Atlanta. The building will include institutional and commercial design technology demonstration studios; prototypes of labs for applied R&D; and incubator and industry representative office space for member companies. Lord, Aeck & Sargent of Atlanta is the architect for the project.

Cirrus Logic Inc. has plans to consolidate employees from its administrative, engineering, and sales functions at a new 190,000-sf corporate headquarters in Building V at the Terrace Business Park in Austin. The new facility has been approved for construction and will accommodate offices for approximately 500 employees when it opens in summer 2002. Manufacturing and testing operations will continue at the company’s 60,000-sf plant in Southeast Austin. The company will also maintain its storage applications operations in Fremont, Calif.

ONI Systems, a high-tech company based in San Jose, Calif., will locate its Lightwave Design Center at Nottingham Hall, a 105,000-sf building under construction in the Imperial Office Park near Research Triangle Park.  ONI plans to  employ 150 people doing product development in 54,000 sf—the top two floors—of the facility, which will also serve as a customer support center for ONI’s East Coast clients. Clancy & Theys is the general contractor for the building, which is scheduled for completion in spring 2001.

Ultra Clean Technology (UCT) opened a new $4-million plant in late October 2000 in North Austin’s Business Center @ TechRidge complex. UCT supplies gas and liquid delivery technology to the semiconductor process equipment industry. The new 11,000-sf facility houses a 3,000-sf cleanroom and a 4,000-sf warehouse. The North Austin facility is UCT’s first expansion outside Menlo Park, Calif., where the company is based.

IBM has plans to increase its presence in the telecommunications services field with the building of the Network Innovation Laboratories—three labs where several IBM units will work with other telecom companies to research and test new services: wireless solutions, broadband delivery, Internet telephony and data centers. By March 2001, IBM expects to have built one lab in Raleigh, and one each in France and Asia.

Nokia’s three-story, 190,000-sf Product Creation Center in Scripps Ranch won two awards from the local design and architecture community. Davis Davis Architects designed the $44-million facility. The building houses office, research, and recreation facilities and includes lab space (31,000 sf), a dining area with full-service kitchen (3,600 sf) and an executive meeting room (2,600 sf). Several of the project team members include McGraw/Baldwin Architects, Hensel Phelps Construction, and Hope Engineering.

Nortel Networks is working with Koll Corporate Development and McCarthy Building Companies to construct Phase III of the Nortel Networks Galatyn Park campus. The $35-million expansion will add 296,000 sf of office space and two parking structures to the existing 500,000-sf campus. The fast-track project includes a seven-story office building and two, four-level parking structures for up to 1,600 cars, a credit union, company story, and cafeteria. At completion in March 2001, approximately 1,400 employees will be located in the new facility.

Tokyo Electron America has received approval in September to construct a new 70,700-sf office building at their corporate campus in East Austin. The new structure will connect with the company’s existing 77,864-sf facility, and will provide additional space to accommodate increased staff. The company, which manufactures semiconductor equipment, has been working with the engineer consulting firm Baker-Aicklen & Associates.

Nissei Sangyo America Ltd. (NSA) and Hitachi Instruments Inc. (HII) have plans to jointly occupy a new 64,405-sf structure under construction in Pleasanton. NSA provides sales, and HII provides service, for Hitachi electron microscopes. The new facility provides a single location for customers seeking service, instruction, and demonstrations. A class-100 cleanroom will be incorporated in the demonstration area.

NetReach, a host and developer of Websites, plans to transform a 200,000-sf former asbestos manufacturer's warehouse into a high-tech hub for its operations. After $10 million in upgrades, the warehouse will become Two eCommerce Plaza, an "Internet-centric" small business park. NetReach, currently housed in an adjacent 12,000-sf building, will move into the new telecom structure when renovations are completed at the end of 2000. Space unoccupied by NetReach will be made available to other Web-based companies.