Oracle Corp. Announces Major Austin Expansion

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle Corp.—the world’s second-largest software firm—announced a major expansion into Austin, bolstering the Texas city’s reputation as a high-tech industry hub.

Company officials disclosed plans to build a massive 560,000-square-foot corporate campus situated on 27 acres of land overlooking picturesque vistas fronting Lady Bird Lake east of the central business district.

The move will grow the software firm’s local workforce by 50 percent over the course of the next few years, company officials said.

“Austin was a natural choice for Oracle to invest and grow,” Scott Armour, Senior Vice President, Oracle Direct, said in a prepared statement. “We already have a high-performing employee base in the region, and the surrounding technology community is teeming with creative and innovative thinkers.”

The executive disclosed details of the move on the corporate website where the announcement was made.
Armour said the envisioned campus would be designed to appeal to an employee base comprising a younger worker force in particular.

The property purchase includes an adjacent 295-unit apartment complex intended for employee housing options seeking a work-life balance.

“Our state-of-the-art campus will be designed to inspire, support and attract top talent – with a special focus on the needs of millennials,” Armour said.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said Oracle’s imminent plans reinforce the city’s efforts to lure high-tech players to the city.

“What Oracle is doing in Austin reinforces what I’m talking about when I say that great cities do big things, especially in the technology sector,” Adler said.

The mayor has long championed solutions to municipal challenges centered on infrastructure and affordable housing, saying he would take the opportunity to work with Oracle and other companies with a major local presence to help tackle those issues.

“With this significant investment, Oracle demonstrates that it believes in Austin and its future, and it’s serious about creating fantastic job opportunities in our community,” Adler said. “I look forward to working with major employers like Oracle to tackle our biggest challenges, including mobility and affordability.”

Oracle officials said they would collaborate with local firms in the design and design elements of the planned campus, which is to be built in several phases. The company’s operations would consolidate the software company’s facilities in Oregon.

Oracle is the world’s largest software firm after Microsoft, according to Investopedia. Two years ago, the company, founded in 1977, surpassed IBM in attaining the second ranking in terms of company size within its industry, reporting software revenues of $29.7 billion on total revenue of $34.47 billion.