Idaho is set to buy the Boise campus, priced at $110 million (€101 million).
Idaho Statesman reported that the State Department of Administration has signed a letter of intent to commence talks with HP Inc, and that it will also put aside $16 million (€14 million) for renovations, according to a statement from Governor Butch Otter’s office. The plan is for HP Inc to lease back the space it requires to run its operations.
Otter also said “a great employer is reinforcing its commitment to Idaho”, although details were not available from the state officials nor from HP Inc, nor did the OEM comment on the story. However, a spokesperson from the OEM said: “This decision will ensure HP is able to maximise the value of its real estate investments and create future growth at the Boise campus.”
George Illiff, a real estate agent in Boise, commented that “I have to think this is a smart thing for the state. It just makes me worry about HP’s future in Boise”. The plan would be for HP Inc to lease back “more than half the office space” for seven years in the first instance, and Keith Reynolds, Deputy Director of the Idaho Department of Administration, said that initially the state would “relocate the Tax Commission to the campus” and that space for other agencies “will be evaluated based on lease expiration and the cost of renewing their existing lease”.
He added that “[the migration] would be very slow, very planned and very coordinated”, while Iliff worries that “HP’s apparent willingness to sell may signal a change in the company’s long-term plans” and said that “plenty of people have tried to buy the excess land that HP has. People have tried to buy individual buildings. This is a pretty significant change in their property philosophy”.