The 1.3-million-square-feet microchip manufacturing plant operated by Qimonda North American Corporation until February is now for sale, with its owners hoping another chipmaker buys the facility.

“This is the first time a working facility of this kind has ever been on the market,” says Glen Haley, a Qimonda spokesperson. “We’re definitely looking to sell it as a going concern. Any number of industries—biopharmaceuticals or another semiconductor company, for example—could move in. This location has a great workforce that’s already trained in technical processes, and a great deal of support from Henrico and the state.”

Located at 6000 Technology Boulevard near the intersection of I-295 and I-64 in eastern Henrico, the plant was built and outfitted in 1998 at a cost of about $3 billion. It manufactured 200 mm and 300 mm DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips used in computers, video game systems and mobile phones.

The manufacture of DRAM and other types of semiconductor chips involves complex, lengthy processing and can take place only in highly specialized facilities such as the Henrico plant. These facilities include “cleanrooms,” for example, that require humidity control and air filtering to reduce dust and other contaminants, in addition to the intricate, high-tech machinery used to assemble chips.

“This property is one of the most advanced, equipment-wise, you could find in the United States,” says Haley. “Because of our automation technology, the chips stay in a secured environment for nearly the full length of their production. So the product is of a very high quality even as the plant produces more chips than most can.”

On April 2, several weeks after parent company Qimonda AG, based in Munich, filed for insolvency in Germany, forcing Qimonda North America Corporation into bankruptcy, the American company appointed a team of advisors to oversee the sale of the chip manufacturing facility. These advisors—Advanced Technology Real Estate Group of Seattle, Emerald Technology Valuations LLC of San Francisco and Gordon Brothers Commercial & Industrial of Boston—specialize in tech-outfitted commercial real estate and corporate restructuring.

In the late 1990s and the first years of the millennium, as demand grew for iPods, Xboxes, mobile phones and other consumer telecommunications products, production of semiconductor chips increased dramatically, leading to an oversupply and plummeting prices. The economic recession then curtailed demand for such products, leaving some beleaguered manufacturers with few options but bankruptcy.

When a buyer (or buyers) is found, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court will have to approve the sale of the plant and its parts before any transaction can be completed. While the owners hope to sell the facility to a company that will continue to operate it, if no such buyer is found, they will sell the plant and its components in separate transactions.

For more information, contact Stephen Rothrock or Doug Barrett of ATREG at (206) 515-4497 or visit www.atreg.com.