Nintendo of America plans Redmond HQ expansion

Nintendo of America is planning to extend the size of its Redmond headquarters by more than 550,000 square feet, sparking renewed concerns over excessive traffic congestion from local city planners.

According to an article in the Seattle Times, the publishing giant is in discussion with planners from the Redmond City Council, in an effort to devise a suitable growth structure over the next ten years.

"We know it's going to be important for that area in the future to get some of this traffic off the streets," commented Jim Roberts, Redmond City assistant planning director.

The area has long suffered serious traffic congestion as a result of Nintendo's offices and the neighbouring headquarters of Microsoft. City planners are hoping that Nintendo will agree to the creation of a path through its campus for pedestrians and bicycles, which could potentially be adopted into a bus, train or monorail route in the future.

Redmond residents and local businesses have suffered in the past as a result of the two industry giants operating in such close proximity, and the two companies clashed early in 2005 when Microsoft planned an extension of its own, eventually appeasing all interested parties by compromising on its plans and reducing the extension proposal by some 251,000 square feet.

Discussions and local planning proposals continue, and Nintendo has stated that it is too early at this stage to make any comment on a definitive decision for the growth of its headquarter offices.