Fab for lease

04/01/1998

Fab for lease

In a joint effort, engineering and construction firm Meissner + Wurst and the Flanders foreign investment office (FFIO) are planning to build a $1.5 billion chipmaking complex in the northern Belgian province of Limburg, with a view to leasing the facility to one or more chipmakers. Roger De Keersmaecker, director of FFIO`s IC project, said that talks are under way with various chipmaking firms interested in the leasing proposal, but no official technology partner has yet signed up. The preliminary design of the complex, devised by M+W and the A.M.A. Group architectural firm, can house up to three modules of two cleanrooms, providing for between 20,000 and 30,000 wafer starts per month. The facility will probably accommodate 0.25-micron to 0.18-micron technology with 200-mm wafers. Two 100-acre sites in Limburg are under consideration for the complex.

The proposal is part of an ongoing effort by the Flemish government to establish a local chipmaking industry. Under the leasing model, which is said to offer lower up-front costs for the chipmaker, a consortium would finance construction of the science park-style complex and then lease it to the chipmaking firms. In variations of the model, De Keersmaecker said, M+W would not only build the facility but also provide facility oversight, maintaining a co-generation plant, ultrapure water distribution, waste treatment, a fire brigade, and chemical and gas management - leaving the technology partner to focus on manufacturing operations