Intel spokesman Patrick Ward declined comment on the matter,stating that, "we are going through the permitting process, but weare not making any announcements at this point in time." Despitethat, according to plans filed with the town of Hudson and stateregulatory officials, Intel is looking at a 360,000-sf addition tobe developed on a 149-acre swath of land. The new facility is partof an $800 million upgrade to the Hudson operations, most of whichwill be spent on sophisticated equipment to run the new addition.The project will feature a 50,000-sf expansion of the plant'ssophisticated clean room facility.

Epsilon Associates of Maynard has been retained to performengineering work on the project, but a contractor has not yet beenselected. Intel procured the 1.3 million-sf Hudson property in 1998as part of a deal to settle a long-simmering lawsuit with theerstwhile Digital Equipment Corp. Compaq Computer Inc. now ownsDEC, which had built the plant in the 1980s.