Ducks are lining up in a row for Nike in its plans to expand its expansive Beaverton, Ore., campus.
Not only did the global apparel giant get offered tax incentives from the state in return for a promise of additional jobs to keep all expansions local, but it was also offered a change in building height restrictions by local officials in an effort to keep Nike focused on its existing footprint instead of looking to the City of Portland.
In April, Nike announced its plans to expand in Washington County, much to the chagrin of Portland officials that had tried to lure Nike into its urban environment. The company will start construction in late summer or fall 2013 on two new buildings totaling about 500,000 square feet, added parking and road and miscellaneous campus improvements.
“Nike is a growth company with a long history in Oregon and we look forward to continuing to grow here,” Mark Parker, president and CEO of Nike says in a statement.
Since 2007, Nike’s employment in Oregon has grown nearly 60 percent with more than 8,000 employees and contract workers based at its 2.2 million square feet of space at its headquarters in Beaverton.
The latest development, as reported by The Oregonian’s Allan Brettman, was to name Hoffman Construction as the lead contractor and award design of the buildings to Portland-based ZGF Architects.
Nike has used a variety of architects for its projects, or buildings it funds on the campus of the University of Oregon. Most recently, in Eugene, ZGF designed the John E. Jaqua Academic Learning Center and a portion of the university’s Casanova Center.
TVA Architects took on the Matthew Knight Arena, which houses Oregon basketball, as well as some Nike retail spaces. Robert Thompson, TVA’s lead, designed the original Nike campus, which opened in 1990.
The most recent Nike expansion at its headquarters site, which currently has 22 buildings on 210 acres, is the C. Vivian Stringer Child Development Center.
Tim Newcomb is Engineering News-Record’s Pacific Northwest contributor. He has also written for TIME, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and more. You can follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb or visit his website here.