Late last week, Intel had announced plans to halt construction on its 10-story, 435,000-sf office tower downtown. Intel plans to come back and reassess at year's end whether the company should move forward with construction. That declaration, however, hasn't stopped other companies from offering to pick up the construction and finish the office space now, a company source tells GlobeSt.com. "That's not what we're interested in," Intel spokesman Fred Shannon says. "It's our desire to continue with this building."

What Intel does, though, will depend upon the cyclical nature of the high-tech market, Shannon says. For now, the company is taking offers and cataloguing them for consideration at year's end. "We've taken the offers put them in a file," Shannon says. "At an appropriate time we will come back and review them towards the end of the year as we1re reviewing the construction timeline." Shannon points out that Intel always intended to have some sublease space in the building, slowing weaning off those leases as Intel reached its expected building capacity in 2010.

Intel has stopped construction on office sites across the nation and poured those dollars into the company1s manufacturing and research and development efforts. Shannon stresses Intel does not intend to pull up stakes in Austin. The company continues to work and continues to make strategic hires in Austin. The spokesman adds the company, which is scattered across three office sites in Austin, has plenty of short-term space to add at the company's offices at 1501 S. Mopac Expressway.