This may have been the first announcement of the $300 million San Jose facility.
NOVELL WILL BUILD IN SAN JOSE ... 10/04/96
Salt Lake Tribune
Types: Business
Published: 10/04/96
Page: C8
Keywords: Businesses, Computers
Novell Will Build in San Jose
Byline: BY JAMES J. MITCHELL SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Novell Inc. on Wednesday announced plans to build a $300 million campus in north San Jose and add nearly 3,000 jobs in Silicon Valley during the next six years.
The Orem-based maker of networking software spent several months determining whether to build downtown or on 48 acres it owned on North First Street.
The company chose north San Jose largely because construction there would take a year, compared with about two years downtown, said Randall Knox, vice president of Novell's California site operations. ``We really need to get something up now because we're bursting at the seams.''
Novell has about 1,100 employees in a leased complex in northeast San Jose.
When complete, the new campus is expected to comprise 1.5 million square feet in nine buildings, each up to five stories high. The site would accommodate about 4,000 workers.
The increased employment would come from expansion of local operations, which include the development of products used for network management, the Internet and corporate intranets, Knox said. ``We definitely think the talent pool is here in the Bay Area.'' Boosters of downtown development said they were disappointed, but Novell's decision isn't a serious blow. ``I don't think it's going to set any trends,'' said Fil Maresca, president of the Downtown Association.
``It was always so iffy,'' said Steve Tedesco, president of the San Jose Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. ``And we can't be too disappointed because they're still building in San Jose.''
Novell bought 48 acres in 1991 for about $45 million. Novell will contribute an estimated $800,000 to $1 million a year in property taxes to the San Jose Redevelopment Agency once the project is completed, said Allan Melkesian, the agency's director of industrial development.
Novell hopes to break ground next summer and complete the first phase, about 700,000 square feet, by the end of 1998. |
