HP to Expand in Campus

HP Inc. plans to build a new facility in Vancouver, with potential to expand into an enormous corporate campus.

Initial plans call for 330,000 square feet of office space in two buildings, part of the city’s broader effort to encourage economic development on Vancouver’s eastern edge. Intriguingly, public documents indicate HP’s project could expand to 1.5 million square feet in research and manufacturing space on nearly 100 acres over 15 years.

However, the news comes as HP prepares to cut up to 9,000 jobs companywide and works to fight off a hostile takeover by rival Xerox Corp. It’s unclear why HP would want to quadruple its Vancouver operations at a time its profits are falling and it is cutting back nearly everywhere else.

“We are exploring opportunities that support our long-term presence in Vancouver but have no immediate plans to change our existing real estate footprint,” HP spokeswoman Camelia Gendreau said in an email. She declined to describe the company’s plans in detail.

Plans submitted to the city call for the Silicon Valley company to use the new site for research and development and related activities. Construction would begin in 2023, with HP moving in late in 2025 or early 2026.

That first phase would be modestly bigger than HP’s current Vancouver facility, but city documents indicate the company is considering a massive expansion in subsequent years to a full campus of 1.5 million square feet.

HP and its corporate predecessor, Hewlett-Packard Co., have operated in Vancouver for nearly four decades and once employed more than 3,000 there. After years of downsizing HP now has 1,000 workers there, according to the city, including more than 300 contractors.

Hewlett-Packard sold its 174-acre east Vancouver campus in 2009 and moved into leased space nearby. That company split up four years ago and the new HP inherited the trailblazing company’s fading printer and PC businesses.

Hewlett-Packard’s Vancouver site originated as a printer factory but the current facility is focused on research to develop 3D printers, which HP hopes could reduce its dependence on the fading market for printed documents.

More at: https://www.oregonlive.com/