"Combining Gateway's manufacturing and service capabilities with those of multiple manufacturing and service partners in the US and overseas will enable it to obtain the best combination of cost and quality for PCs and consumer electronics," Gateway chairman and CEO Ted Waitt explains in a release announcing news about the plant closure and resulting job losses. "As an initial part of this plan, Gateway will close its Hampton, VA manufacturing complex on Sept. 30." Gateway has occupied the two structures since they were developed in 1996.

It is unclear whether the company's half-million-sf digs will go up for sale or be rented out to a single or several tenants. "We lease that space," Gateway spokesman Bob Sherbin tells GlobeSt.com, "and I don't think we've determined yet whether or not we're going to sublet it." Gateway's lease is not scheduled to expire until 2011. Terms of the company's lease agreement are not available, but the NAI Direct report indicates that the effective average rate for manufacturing space in the region currently goes for about $5.25 per sf.