Business Specialties  Development
$4.2B Semiconductor Facility in Upstate NY Likely to Spark New Opportunities
Jul 28, 2009
By: Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

After three years of Silicon Valley-based GlobalFoundries and the State of New York working together to lay the financial groundwork, construction of GlobalFoundries' $4.2 billion semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility at the new 1,400-acre Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta, N.Y., has just commenced. Officials expect the GlobalFoundries development to create 1,400 new manufacturing jobs, and they are keeping their fingers crossed that the 1.3-million-square-foot Fab 2 will spur additional investment in the area.

LFTC sits 25 miles north of Albany in New York's Tech Valley, an area extending from New York City to Montreal. A joint venture involving Sunnyvale, Calif.-headquartered AMD Inc. and Abu Dhabi-based Advanced Technology Investment Co., GlobalFoundries' new manufacturing center on the sprawling campus will be able to accommodate as many as three fab facilities, including 300,000 square feet of clean room space. Construction expenditures for the multi-billion-project are expected to total $800 million. The State of New York will pony has committed to assisting with development through a $1.37 billion assistance package that constitutes the state's largest public-private investment ever. Upon its scheduled completion in 2012, the facility will be the nation's biggest cutting-edge semiconductor foundry and the world's most technologically advanced lab.

In addition to the new manufacturing jobs that will materialize upon the opening of GlobalFoundries' Fab 2 and the 1,600 construction jobs that will emerge during the project's development, New York anticipates that 5,000 jobs indirectly related to the facility and its activities will be created in the region. Both the state and Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corp., owner and developer of LFTC, are hoping that along with the new jobs, Fab 2 will lure other businesses to the site, which would play a large role in the advancement New York's goal of evolving into a leading tech hub.

LFTC has nine remaining parcels available for the development of various project types ranging from additional nanotechnology manufacturing structures to office and good/services buildings. The developable land is being marketed internationally to technology companies for sale, ground lease, as well as build-to-suit and joint venture opportunities. Ultimately LFTC could blossom into a community within a community with 24/7 offerings; land was sold in 2007 for a residential project and another designated site may very well sprout a 40-room executive conference center with lodging accommodations.

 
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