Microsoft Digs Itself a Hole
Microsoft, the software giant, is excavating a giant pit for an underground parking garage with the capacity for some 5,000 vehicles. When finished, it will be one of the largest underground parking structures in the United States.
It will cover the equivalent of six downtown city blocks and go four stories deep. The underground garage is scheduled to be completed by mid-2008. Microsoft now has nearly 29,000 parking spaces spread across its corporate campus in Redmond.
In 2006, the company announced a three-year plan to expand the campus by about one-third, or 3.1 million square feet, at a cost of roughly $1.3 billion. Parking at Microsoft has become such a hassle that the company began offering valet service for employees working in some buildings, as a temporary measure during construction.