Today, BOPS Inc. officially opens the center in 16,400-sf of office space that has been undergoing interior renovations to accommodate the operation. Broker Diann Cowling of Quick & Co., which is based here, told GlobeSt.com that the interior upgrading is costing $10 per sf to $12 per sf. In addition to interior changes, BOPS has upgraded the transformer at Exchange Park, a four-building complex owned by Hub Properties Trust, a REIT with an extensive Austin portfolio.

BOPS has agreed to a rate of nearly $26 per sf for the class B space for five years. The spot was previously occupied by Computer Science Corp., which is building a new structure Downtown. "The rents in Austin are high," Cowling told GlobeStcom. "It doesn't matter what kind of space you're in."

BOPS had opened its Austin office about nine months ago, taking what it could get in the city's tight market--signing a short-term lease for about 2,300 sf while executives searched for larger quarters. Cowling says Bops.com presently employs 15 people, but is planning to beef up its staff to at least 50 in the course of the next year.

David Baker, vice president of product development, is heading up the R&D center. He is a familiar name around town for having started R&D centers for other corporations, according to Cowling.

BOPS is joining several other new high-tech firms that have selected Exchange Park for their operations, says Cowling. BOPS, founded three years ago, develops and licenses high-performing scalable and reusable digital signal processor intellectual property cores. Its software products are aimed at compilers, design tools and debugging programs.

The firm, established by Gerald G. Pechanek and Stephen Walsh, has gained the backing of such players as Vulcan Ventures, Robertson Stephens' Bayview Fund, Broadview Capital Partners, J&W Seligman, Scudder Kemper Investments, Aman Ventures, Pequot Capital Management Inc., Vantage Point Venture Partners and the Band of Angels fund. Just two months ago, BOPS secured $40 million in venture capital, taking its fiscal backing status to $49 million since its inception. The company also operates a development center in Research Park Triangle in Chapel Hill, NC.