Recycled 500,000-SF Expansion Plan Moves Ahead

RICHMOND, VA-Everything old is new again at Infineon Technologies Richmond now that the semiconductor manufacturer has revitalized a long-delayed plan to expand its campus, which actually sits just outside of the city in the suburb of Sandston. The Germany-headquartered company scrapped plans for a 500,000-sf addition in 2000 due to less than favorable market conditions. Now, it’s all systems go for the dual-phase endeavor that will ultimately cost $1 billion in equipment and construction to realize. Infineon, formerly White Oak Semiconductor, has been a presence on Technology Drive near the intersection of I-295 and I-64 since 1998. The multi-structure campus currently consists of a 175,000-sf office building, a 9,000-sf dining facility and a manufacturing plant that is already nearly 600,000 sf in size. While the company had decided to expand in Richmond four years ago, building the addition in Richmond this time around was not a sure thing. The state and local authorities campaigned all over again to convince the manufacturer that the Richmond area is the right location. “The excellent infrastructure and state-of-the art manufacturing expertise at Richmond enables us to quickly bring 300mm capacity on line in a way that is consistent with our corporate capital expenditure plans and thus make this the fastest and most cost effective way for us to respond to changing market conditions,” says Infineon Technologies North America Corp. president Robert LeFort.