Employees from the Solidworks, ENOVIA, and 3DVIA divisions will be the initial occupants of the new building. This is the largest commercial lease deal in the Boston area so far in 2010
Dassault Systémes has signed the lease on a new facility in Waltham, Massachusetts that will serve as its North American Headquarters.
The new location is LEED Gold certified and will initially house 800 DS employees.
The new campus is located in the Rt. 128 corridor, considered the Silicon Valley of the Northeast US. The campus will offer employees a gourmet cafeteria, an exercise facility, and at least one acre of green-space to be used for relaxation and company events.
The new campus replaces existing offices in Lowell and Concord which currently house the company’s 3DVIA, SolidWorks and ENOVIA product brands. The 320,000 sq. ft. campus at 175 Wyman Street is said to be the largest commercial lease transaction in the Boston area this year.
A Personal Note
The grumpy SolidWorks stalwarts out there will complain this relocation is one more part of the gradual absorption of SolidWorks into Dassault’s corporate culture. Forget that—be happy for all the DS employees who get fancy new digs.
However, the old SolidWorks location will always have a special place in my memory book. There’s a trophy case in the current Solidworks HQ celebrating how Jon Hirschtick earned his founder’s money by playing Blackjack in Las Vegas. I wonder if the display will move with the employees.
On my first SolidWorks visit, I had a couple of hours to kill before leaving for my flight home, and SpaceClaim was in stealth mode literally across the street (where they are still located today). So, I walked through the parking lot, with SpaceClaim’s Michael Payne and Daniel Dean waiting on their side of the street to greet me. “There’s an energy barrier, we can’t cross over” joked Dean.
