Nintendo Of America Plans HQ Expansion

According to an article in The Seattle Times, officials from Nintendo of America are planning to increase the size of their Redmond headquarters by more than 550,000 square feet. City planners are currently working out an agreement to guide the development over the next ten years, with traffic congestion apparently being a major consideration. Redmond city officials are hoping that Nintendo of America will agree to set aside a path through its campus for bicycles and pedestrians, along what could become a future bus or train route. The area around the headquarters has historically suffered from serious congestion, with Nintendo’s offices neighboring rival Microsoft. Nintendo of America spokeswoman Beth Llewelyn, stated that plans have not been completed and that it was too early for the company to discuss specifics. The close proximity of Nintendo and Microsoft has caused additional problems before, most notably in March of last year when both firms competed for undeveloped land in the area, amid concerns that other businesses were being disadvantaged. The dispute was resolved amicably though when Microsoft voluntarily scaled back its expansion plans by 251,000 square feet.