Western Digital Will Move Offices to Irvine Spectrum

Western Digital Corp. said Monday that it will move the 700 employees in its headquarters to a new four- or five-building campus in the Irvine Spectrum.

Western Digital officials say the new 450,000-square-foot campus will encourage greater communication between its engineering and design groups, which could speed development time for new products.

It will also allow the company to consolidate its laboratories. A late 1999 move-in date is expected, shortly before its lease expires in 2000, said Michael Cornelius, vice president of law and administration.

The company purchased the 32-acre site on the northwest corner of Irvine Center Drive and Sand Canyon Avenue from the Irvine Co. It was the largest land sale in the Irvine Spectrum in about five years, said Richard Sim, group president of Investment Properties for the Irvine Co.

Last year, the disk-drive maker announced plans to move out of its signature 14-story building on Irvine Center Drive near the San Diego Freeway into a campus-style setting.

Although building plans are not complete, Cornelius said the facility will be based on an open design, with no private offices. The company recently tested the new layout on the top floor of its current headquarters.

“Even [chief executive] Chuck Haggerty has a cubicle,” Cornelius quipped.

Meanwhile, the company said it is close to finding another tenant to fill a large part of the high-rise it is vacating. Lender Consumer Portfolio Services is said to be eyeing more than 100,000 square feet in the building.

Western Digital can well afford the move. In its recent fiscal second quarter, sales surpassed the $1-billion mark for the first time, and earnings were up 76% to $64.2 million from last year.

Cornelius attributed the company’s recent growth to an increase in market share in its core business of selling hard drives for desktop computers.

The company also began shipping its first orders for disk drives for high-powered “server” computers.