Packet Engines To Build New Headquarters Three Sites Under Consideration For $12-15 Million Facility
Packet Engines Inc., the local maker of high-speed networking equipment, has unveiled a design for a new corporate headquarters and said negotiations continue on three possible sites.
Bernard Daines, Packet president and CEO, said Friday one site is at Liberty Lake and the others are in the Spokane Valley.
Packet released a drawing Friday of the proposed 158,000-foot facility, expected to cost $12 million to $15 million.
The initial concept was drawn by Bernardo-Willis Architects of Spokane. Daines said an architect for the design phase of the project has not yet been hired.
Jerry MacFarlane, Packets’ vice president of facilities and services, said the middle section of the building will be three stories and will include an auditorium-training facility.
The wings on each side will be two stories. One wing will be used for manufacturing and lab space; the other will house offices. The parking lot will accommodate 900 vehicles.
MacFarlane added: “We’re trying to get as much exposure as we can so people can see the Packet Engines signature on top of the building.” Packet is a subsidiary of Paris-based Alcatel.
Daines said he hopes to have building and property plans finalized during the second quarter of this year, and groundbreaking could follow in about three months.
Daines said Packet has not yet decided whether to build the new facility itself or lease the building from a developer.
Daines said the company still expects to hire 200 additional employees within two to three years, which would make it impossible for Packet to remain at its current location at 11707 E. Sprague.
But Daines added that, “a lot has to happen before that’s realized.”
When Alcatel bought Packet last year, the company employed about 200. Since then, Daines said, 12 employees have left the company. That’s fewer than he had expected to leave after the sale, he said.
Daines said Packet is increasing its recruiting efforts. To attract top engineers and other high-tech workers to the Spokane market, Daines hopes Alcatel will create a stock-option plan for Packet - similar to the arrangement Packet had for employees before the buyout.
According to Daines, when Alcatel paid $325 million for Packet, about $175 million went to Packet employees and to investors who had funded the start up company.
Separately, Daines said Alcatel has established a $20 million incentive plan for Packet workers if they remain market leaders for high-speed networking products.