Sun Microsystems is selling its StorageTek facility in Louisville and moving workers to its Broomfield campus.
While rattling off a list of real-estate changes throughout Sun, chief financial officer Michael E. Lehman said Tuesday that the 380-acre Louisville campus will be on the market, as the Santa Clara, Calif.-based computer networking company tries to consolidate its real-estate holdings and cut costs.
“The Louisville, Colo., facility has been classified as held for sale,” Lehman said during an earnings conference call. “We have plans to vacate that campus during the next nine to 12 months.”
The announcement is a change from official comments last month that the company would retain the site.
Sun laid off 122 employees in Colorado last month – the first phase of a reorganization plan designed to shrink its global workforce by up to 5,000.
At the time, Sun spokeswoman Stephanie Hess said Sun was committed to Colorado and “not exiting the Louisville campus.” In January, Sun also said it would relocate more than 1,000 workers to its Broomfield campus but not all workers.
“It’s a management decision,” Hess said. “It’s not just a Colorado plan, it’s a global plan, so decisions are happening in real time.”
Hess said a value for the property has yet to be determined, as the campus isn’t officially on the market.
Louisville officials said the decision was anticipated, following Sun’s $4.1 billion acquisition of Storage Technology Corp. in June 2005. StorageTek is the largest employer in the city.
Sun’s 1,900 Louisville workers and manufacturing facility will be moved to buildings on the Broomfield campus that are unoccupied, said Hess. Sun has about 4,600 workers at its Louisville and Broomfield plants.
Louisville plans to rezone the industrial site for commercial, retail and light residential use, said City Manager Bill Simmons.
“Some of the space has been vacated for some time. It is not running for full occupancy,” Simmons said. “The consensus was that industrial zoning was not something for the long term. We could redevelop it into a better gateway into the city with better uses for the property.”
Also during the conference call, Lehman announced the “closure and ultimate sale” of Sun’s Puerto Rico manufacturing facility, which the company acquired in the StorageTek merger.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
