Conway Development Corp., HP finalize agreement

Hewlett-Packard and the Conway Development Corporation finalized a lease agreement Friday for the building where the company will open a state-of-the-art customer service and technical support center, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman Johnny Adams said.

"We were able to finalize the lease, and we are planning to start construction Monday on the project," he said.

Conway was selected as the site for the project in June, and since then, final negotiations have been ongoing regarding financing, legal work and design work on the building, Adams said.

"It's a large project. It's a $35 million project, so it did take a lot of planning (and) legal work," he said.

Adams said he worked on the finance end of the project. Attorney Bill Adkisson, chair of the CDC board, was involved in the legal negotiation, along with attorney Gordon Wilbourn of the city bond council, and attorney Gary Jiles. Michael Parker of Nabholz Construction headed the design project team, Adams said.

Nabholz Construction will build the two-story, 150,000 square-foot, LEED-certified building, Adams said. The Wilcox Group of Little Rock will be the architect. The building will sit on an approximately 25-acre site in the center section of The Meadows Office and Technology Park, Adams said. He estimated the building would be complete in late 2009.

"We are planning a historic ground breaking soon," he said.

The CDC had to sign a confidentiality agreement with HP on the details of the lease; however, Adams could say it is a 10-year lease with options to renew.

Brad Lacy, president and CEO of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and executive director of the Conway Development Corporation, said, "We've been working on it for weeks. There's been a lot of negotiation. There was constant communication between their attorney and our attorney until it was agreeable to both parties. I'm thrilled. We can move on to the construction phase."

Adams said, "We've been working on this since last April. I want to thank everyone with the CDC for working so hard to see this project to this stage. It's been a real testimony to the cooperation of the city of Conway, the Conway Chamber of Commerce and the Conway Development Corporation."

He added, "HP is in the process of interviewing. The jobs for the area are certainly what we are after, and we are very pleased that these 1,400 jobs will provide an excellent salary."

For more information about Hewlett-Packard, visit www.HP.com.

To view a relocation video about moving to Conway prepared by the CDC for HP executives, visit www.ConwayHP.org.