By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Thursday, April 5, 2007 - Updated: 04:43 PM EST
Microsoft has inked a deal that will give the software giant its first major presence in Cambridge as hiring by high-tech firms heats up.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant, which has recently acquired a number of local companies, will lease 45,000 square feet of space in One Memorial Drive, a high-rise along the Charles River near MIT, state economic development officials confirmed.
The move is the first in what is expected to be a major expansion by Microsoft in the Boston area. To fill its new Cambridge office, which is large enough for 150 engineers and researchers, Microsoft will move 90 workers from a software firm it acquired in Boston.
Microsoft plans to hire another 30 engineers, with possibly more to follow. The lease is the first big move by Microsoft into tech rich Cambridge, also home to one-time Harvard dropout Bill Gates’ alma mater.
Microsoft is just one of a number of tech firms scouting for offices and research space in Cambridge, which is considered one of the nation’s tech meccas.
Google has been searching for more than 100,000 square feet of space in Cambridge as it also looks to ramp up hiring in the Boston area.
In filling its Cambridge office, Microsoft will move out of a much smaller, 16,000-square-foot location in Boston it took on after acquiring SoftGrid. Microsoft also has an office in Waltham.
Separately, Microsoft has announced plans to keep Ray Ozzie’s recently acquired Groove Networks - and its 200 workers - in Beverly.
04-09-2007 11:22 AM 