AMD submits plans for $4.6B fab: Malta receives paperwork proposing June 16 concrete-pour

That's according to site plans submitted Monday to the town of Malta, where most of the facility will be located.

AMD needs town Planning Board approval before it obtains ground-clearing and building permits to construct the facility at the Luther Forest Technology Campus, which straddles Malta and the town of Stillwater.

The Malta Planning Board will start its review a week from today.

AMD, which is spinning off its manufacturing into a joint venture with the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, plans to start clearing trees and grading the soil at Luther Forest by March 17, according to the site plans, a collection of detailed maps and reports that measures about seven inches thick.

AMD shareholders still must approve the Abu Dhabi deal in a vote scheduled Feb. 10 in Austin, Texas.

And in addition to getting planning board approval and building permits from Malta and Stillwater, AMD also must purchase the 222 acres it needs for the site at a cost of about $8 million.

"The best way to look at these dates is as targets at this point," said AMD spokesman Travis Bullard.

The joint venture between AMD and Abu Dhabi is temporarily being called The Foundry Co., a company that will make computer chips for AMD and other firms. Such outsourcing is becoming increasingly common in the computer chip industry because of the billion-dollar expense of manufacturing, although AMD's main rival, Intel Corp., continues to produce most of its own chips.

Foundry's plans for Luther Forest include a total of four buildings, the largest of which will be the factory itself, which will measure 883,000 square feet, or about 20 acres of floor space. That includes a 270,000-square-foot clean room, where silicon wafers will be imprinted with computer chips.

"This is the next critical phase in beginning the construction of the most advanced fabrication plant in the country," said Michael Relyea, president of the Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corp., the nonprofit that manages Luther Forest. It's also the entity that will sell the land to Foundry for the new fab.

Also Monday, KeyBank N.A. announced it approved a $25 million line of credit for Luther Forest, which will be used to pay for sewer, water, natural gas and electrical infrastructure at the 1,380-acre industrial park. Most of that land is currently undeveloped.

Bryant Cassella, senior vice president of commercial lending for KeyBank, said the financing originally was planned by a group of banks. But the complexity of the deal was too difficult, and Key structured a the deal on its own. Cassella said the financing is not secured by real estate.

The site plans indicate that construction at the Foundry site will take place six days a week, 10 hours a day, although some night and Sunday construction may be needed this summer and fall. Town permission would be sought in advance if that occurs.

The plans also say Foundry will build a berm varying from 20 to 50 feet high along the north and northwest border to provide a visual and noise barrier during construction.

Bullard, the AMD spokesman, said that despite the global economic crisis, Foundry's plans for Luther Forest are still on track. Fab projects use long-range planning, he said, and the company, which has two factories in Germany, is forecasting the need for additional chip capacity in 2012.

The site plan timeline for Luther Forest reflects that need.

"We need to move forward with this," Bullard said.

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesuion.com.

Moving forward

Key dates established by AMD for the construction of its $4.6 billion chip fab in Malta.

Feb. 10: Shareholder vote on joint venture with Abu Dhabi

March 17: Site clearing and grading begins

June 16: First concrete poured

July 17: First steel erected

July 2010: Building shell completed

July 2011: Fab completed

2012: Full-scale chip manufacturing begins

SOURCE: AMD

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