Microsoft Buys Nintendo-Owned Property

According to a report at the seattlepi website, the Xbox maker Microsoft is buying land that is owned by Nintendo. Microsoft wants to buy a large piece of property that is close to the Nintendo of America headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Nintendo just announced on Tuesday that they have entered into a sale, that will give Microsoft a 28-acre parcel right across the Redmond headquarters. Rumors were circulating that net before the Nintendo Wii was released, that Microsoft might buy the Nintendo giant. Those rumors proved to be false, but this new deal has been confirmed.

This doesn't mean that Microsoft owns any part of the Nintendo company. This deal just means that Microsoft bought land that was owned by Nintendo. Microsoft is going to keep this land and possibly plan some kind of future development for it. According to the report, Microsoft plans to use the land for parking problems that are happening right now. Parking garages for the company at the RedWest campus, are usually filled completely.

The amount Microsoft paid for this Nintendo owned land, was not released. The sale will finish up in the next couple of weeks. The land is located at 148^th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 51^st Street. A King County Assessor has put a value on the land of $23 million dollars.

Under a previous Nintendo plan that was released, the land was going to be used for 555,000 square feet of additional office space for them. Microsoft may plan to eventually use the land create enough room for 2,000 additional workers, if they choose to build on the land.

Microsoft is currently redeveloping the Redmond campus they have. The company is going to add 14 buildings to the area by the year 2009. One of the new buildings they are creating is a new Microsoft Research headquarters. This building is being built just a few blocks south of property that Nintendo owns.