Downtown Wells, Nevada 1997 — The same grim fate awaits Redmond

After looking around, Microsoft to expand in Redmiond — FYI

REDMOND, Wash.–After years of indecision on whether to build a satellite campus 15 miles away in Seattle or in nearby Issaquah, Microsoft has pledged to keep its growing empire in this community, where it has flourished since 1985.

Its already sprawling 80-building headquarters complex is expected to expand by 2.2 million square feet.

This summer, the company will start design work on two office buildings that will have a total of more than 500,000 square feet when software workers move in by the fall of 2007. These are the first of 13 similar buildings and 8 garages that Microsoft plans to build within 10 years to 20 years. The company also plans to demolish and rebuild 600,000 square feet of older buildings that lack the power and cooling capacity needed for modern computer equipment…

The campus already has the population and many of the amenities of a small city. The aroma of food at lunchtime wafts across Microsoft’s woodsy grounds from eight cafeterias that serve meals for 28,000 employees. On sunny days, it is common to see casually dressed employees with wireless notebook computers holding meetings over lunch at tables tucked away in gardens and plazas between the buildings. Microsoft’s 42-bus shuttle fleet logs 500,000 passenger trips yearly between buildings or the ball field, where games are frequently played during lunchtime.

While I think this is probably a good idea it is creating a white elephant insofar as real estate is concerned. Kind of like an old mill town in New Hamphsire. At this point the city of Redmond has become a defacto company town and could not sustain itself without Microsoft. If you are in the area you should visit the town itself. It’s like Saratoga in California or any number of affluent and clean little burgs. But it is doomed.



  1. Towns handle this problem by requiring companies to construct buildings so that they will have other uses after the company leaves. Often that menas making it possible to turn office buildings into hotels.

    In this case the solution is obvious: Redmond should require all construction to double as a recreational theme park of some sort. When Microsoft eventually leaves, they need merely attract someone to finsih and run the park. Meanwhile, Microsoft employees can enjoy funny rides, and – over time – the increasing irony of their surroundings!
    – Precision Blogger
    http://precision-blogging.blogspot.com

  2. Brenda Helverson says:

    Precision is right and such regulation would probably work in a normal state. But this is Washington State, where the Big Guys always have their way at every turn. Big Timber, Boeing, and now Microsoft. Even Notorious Nerd Paul Allen can apparently get anything he wants from the City of Seattle. Redmond might WANT to regulate Microsoft, but as a practical matter they can not. If they tried, the Legislature would merely pass a special bill to let Geekboy have his way.

  3. Ed Campbell says:

    In the same vein as Brenda, my only curiousity — knowing how most communities really handle the high tech giants they want as employers — is what is Redmond giving away to keep M$oft there?

    Rio Rancho, NM, gave away the farm, the tax base, damned near everything they could think of to get Quicken to open a CSR center. As soon as the tax breaks, etc, expired — bye-bye, Rio Rancho. It’s the American Way, nowadays.

  4. Richard says:

    Why should Microsoft leave town when they can expand on thier turf?
    When land gets cheap enough in wells Nevada some savy investors
    will buy it up! Economics 101
    Hey thats how Vegas was born.

  5. Mike Voice says:

    What Ed wrote about Quicken in NM also applies to Intel, here in Oregon.

    Intel was given loads of tax breaks, and have a large manufacturing base here, but are now lobbying for accelerating the phase-in of existing tax breaks – with the threat that otherwise they will build their next 300mm-wafer Fab somewhere else.

    At least Redmond has the advantage of Bill building that HUGE place of his, nearby. They should be relatively safe until Bill & Melinda move somewhere else.

  6. Rance Bleester says:

    Now we understand why Bill is running around pimping for unlimited H1B immigration.
    But it seems a silly waste of money to construct all of those nice, new buildings for 12,000 H1Bs who would be perfectly happy sweating together, packed butt-to-butt in the metal-clad steerage of a shiney white cruise ship.
    They should just cut a canal through town and plop a couple of sweatships there.
    Maybe do a Venice/San Antone thing too.

  7. Brenda Helverson says:

    Mike hits on an interesting angle – Gates won’t leave Seattle because he is firmly from here, at least 3rd Generation. His Dad, generally known as Mr. Gates, is a powerful lawyer (his firm, Preston, Gates & Ellis, once employed Tom Delay’s pal Jack Abramoff) and the Gates firm does a lot of intellectual property work (anyone wonder how Bill knew how ot keep control of his software?) Microsoft may outsource, but the Gates family isn’t going anywhere.

  8. Richard says:

    TAX BREAKS = JOBS
    JOBS ARE GOOD
    GOOD = $$$
    KEEP JOBS HOME
    GIVE JOBS TO AMERICANS
    IMPORT RAGS AND CURRY FROM INDIA 🙂

  9. Gizzogler says:

    Redmond-In da hood
    Pimpin propizzatari cizzle style
    The company promoted “informizzle at yo fingertips” as part of a CD-ROM strategy n produced numerous titles pimp tha Microsoft at Home label . Wussup to all my niggaz in the house. Dur’n tha dot-com era, Microsoft jumped on tha bandwagon n changed its ciznatch phrase ta “where do you want ta go today?” Microsoft became Web-oriented n began numerous dot-com initizzles siznuch as Sidewalk, n a slizzew of failed online magazizzles pimpin’ an online computa magazine with the S-N-double-O-P. Now as cruisin’ is beginn’n ta emerge, we hear tizzle Microsoft is going ta incorporate trippin’ software into MSN n nigga products . Relax, cus I’m bout to take my respect. A slew of insida at Microsoft is now rhymin’. Steve Ballma is supposed ta hizzy a secret blog someplace. I’m wait’n fo` a new blog-centric ciznatch phrase any minute in tha mutha fuckin club. How `bout “All yo bizzle is belong ta us?” Naw, too obvious.

    While tha smizzug I-told-you-so–type brotha out there (izzy knizzow who you are) find themselves on tha crest of a wave, I’m not so sure T-H-to-tha-izzat tha shore aheezee isn’t rocky, as it was fo` tha CD-ROM vogue n tha dot-com phenomizzles n shit. But at least tha ride is fun with my hoes on my side, and my strap on my back.

  10. Jim says:

    Dvorak has this bootylicious bizzle.
    Yo get ready with MSN iCons. We ride spinners, we ride spinners!
    http://msndollz.com/msn_avatars/Ghetto_msn_doll_icons.html

  11. Hey Gizzogler Thanks for stopping by That was cool……..
    Best to P Diddy and the chocolate factory
    http://www.tcf.net/seanjohn.html

    BTW Opera has a problem with the “N” word 🙂


0

Bad Behavior has blocked 9244 access attempts in the last 7 days.