Sources tell us that HCL Technologies is eying the Phoenix metro for a potential HQ relocation from California. (Cheap flights and people with allergies aren't the only things that move from California to Phoenix.)
Initially, the company could take about 60k SF of prime office space here, but it could eventually encompass as much as 200k SF, sources knowledgeable of the deal tell us. Among economic and real estate pros, the deal is more commonly known by the moniker “Project Nightingale" (or that's the name of the next Hunger Games book) and it's being handled by JLL's Phoenix office. Officials with JLL did not return calls seeking comment. And HCL's Meenakshi Benjwal also declined to comment on “rumor and speculation.”
If the deal comes to fruition, it will be a big win with the metro area's economic development ambitions. And HCL is not a stranger to Phoenix. According to press reports, in 2008, Grand Canyon University launched an MBA program directed at HCL's top executives at its India home base. While he declined to comment on HCL, Greater Phoenix Economic Council's Chris Camacho recently told our audience of more than 200 CRE pros at the Phoenix State of the Market that Phoenix is seeing a resurgence in economic development activity, particularly with financial services firms and with technical jobs. “This is no longer really just a popular call center market,” Chris says.
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