Intel seeks buyer for plant
No serious offers for computer chip facility in Springs
By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Christian Murdock / The Gazette
Intel Corp.'s "Fab 23" computer chip plant on Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs. The facility, which measures more than 1 million square feet, produced its last chip Dec. 17.
After halting computer chip production at its Colorado Springs plant last month and laying off 200 workers, Intel Corp. is still trying to find a buyer for the facility.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant announced a year ago that it would try to sell the sprawling "Fab 23" plant with the employees and equipment intact. The plant would be closed if no buyer was found. About 1,000 workers were employed there at the time.
A buyer has so far failed to materialize. And the plant - measuring more than 1 million square feet - produced its last chip Dec. 17.
About 250 employees are staying on through the middle of this year to close the plant, selling off equipment or sending the gear to other Intel facilities. "We've had some people walk through and take a look," Intel spokeswoman Dawn Jones said. "We haven't had any serious buyers make an offer."
Without elaborating, Jones said potential buyers who've toured the facility have included "semiconductor and nonsemiconductor companies."
The decision to sell the plant came after Intel sold the line of chips made there in 2006 to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Marvell opted to move production overseas.
David White, vice president of marketing for the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp., said multiple users ultimately may occupy the plant - versus one big company buying the whole facility.
"There are not too many companies out there that could take on a plant of that size," White said. "We may see an investor purchase the building and carve out several uses within the facility."
White said his organization has received several inquiries about the plant from a variety of companies, including renewable energy companies, such as solar cell manufacturers; electronics companies; and pharmaceutical companies and medical-device makers.
The Intel plant produced chips used in wireless communications - including Wi-Fi technology used by on-the-go Web surfers for logging on to the Internet.
The plant also made flash memory chips installed in cell phones and other wireless communications devices.
The plant originally was slated to end production in October, but was kept open until mid-December. In opting to extend production, Intel cited stronger-than-expected demand for parts used in the company's Centrino line of Wi-Fi chips.
Intel bought the plant in 2000 from Rockwell International Corp. and expanded the facility.
In July 2004, for example, Intel said it would spend $400 million to upgrade the plant. It followed up that investment in September 2005 by announcing it would pump an additional $190 million into the plant.
fillionr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2467
For sale
* What: Computer chip plant
* Location: Colorado Springs
* Size: More than 1 million square feet
* Owner: Intel Corp.
* Recent development: Intel ended chip production there in mid-December and laid off 200 workers.
* Reason for sale: Intel sold plant's line of chips to Marvell Technology Group, which moved production offshore.
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