It's not a big deal, because it's not "eBay coming to town". eBay already owns Critical Path, and CP's just moving to the new digs. There's no actual job creation or change here, despite the giddy expectations that somehow, magically, the currently declining eBay will create a bunch of new business and new jobs. eBay's still around because it's buying companies as fast as it can (PayPal, etc.)

Speaking of office space.

The CRC is paying $35,000 month for class office space in Vancouver.

David Evans & Assoc., ODOT, WDOT etc all have space.

David Evan & Assoc as of 12/10 have been been paid $77 million for arch/eng/planning services.

Why is this space good enough for a big operator like ebay but not for the government?

Ebay's core auction business is stagnant. Most of its growth now is in its payments segment (primarily PayPal) which accounts for a large (about 40%) and growing portion of its revenue. Ebay has a significant minority interest in Craigslist as well, which it forlornly hopes to turn into a profit maximizer some day, both increasing the value of Ebay's stake in the primarily no-fee listing service and strengtening the competitive strength of Ebay's auction business vis a vis its second most important competitor.

Re: "eBay's still around because it's buying companies as fast as it can (PayPal, etc.)"

towm,
And by selling companies, as described in a May 10th NYT piece about eBay's potential profit from the $8.5B Skype sale to MSFT:

"Long ridiculed for buying Skype, eBay will, in the end, likely profit from the deal to the tune of several hundred million dollars.

The payoff, at least by eBay standards, is sizable, although not huge. But eBay executives, who did not respond to a request for comment, will no doubt be happy to crow about the final accounting after years of criticism by the media and investors."

Further,

"EBay originally spent $2.5 billion in cash on Skype plus another $500 million later on in payouts to Skype’s founders. That is a total cost of $3.1 billion.

It sold the 65 percent stake in Skype two years ago for around $1.8 billion to investors including Silver Lake Partners and Andreessen Horowitz.

The remaining stake, as valued in the Microsoft deal, is worth about $2.4 billion before taxes and taking into account Skype’s debt. EBay therefore got more than $4 billion for Skype along the way.

But eBay will have to pay taxes on the money it collects from the sale. How much depends in part on the amount it repatriates from overseas, although it [sic] clear that eBay’s profit will be at least $800 million or so.

Not bad for a failed acquisition."

Not bad for a failed acquisition.

Actually, it is. Buying and selling companies is a legendarily bad way to stay in business in Silicon Valley. The Skype sale does nothing meaningful to eBay's bottom line. If you're in business at that scale, you know right away that this is a desperation move, not a strategic one. Plowing money into keeping your business *afloat* by wheeling and dealing for cash is how companies go broke, in other words.

Here's a simpler version: eBay will get bought by another large company in Silicon valley in the next 3-5 years, and broken up.

...and the best part is, Skype is crap. A large contingent of those sick of Microsoft and Google are equally crowing about how glad they are this sale was made--because it means Skype goes in the can.

Actually, Skype works pretty well for us.
I video chat with my brother stationed in Japan, and my daughter has friends in Germany that she has video calls with a few times a week.

At least one of the "Inside Job" interviews -- from Iceland -- was actually done via Skype; it's virtually undetectable when viewed from a DVD on a home tv screen. It would be disappointing to lose this professional option.

The problem with Skype is usually identified as its resistance to returning a profit for investors. That it has been turned into a bauble for the amusement of corporate M&A types -- from the nation's finest, ethically challenged MBA mills -- is already discouraging.

In a poll done around December, over 90% of Skype users said they use it because it is free. In other words, almost no users choose to buy Skype's additional services.

Even the most clueless amongst ordinary consumers will see just how long that's going to last. Microsoft has already intimated that the service will *definitely* cost something to use. The only other possibility is for Microsoft to fold it awkwardly into future versions of Windows. Which makes other comapnies offering free, high-quality videoconferencing software salivate.

it's virtually undetectable when viewed from a DVD on a home tv screen.

That means they didn't capture the screen running Skype--they put a professional video camera in the feed loop. There are a few dozen alternatives to Skype that work just as well.

The CRC is paying $35,000 month for class office space in Vancouver.

David Evans & Assoc., ODOT, WDOT etc all have space.

There's PLENTY of room at the Jantzen Beach "SuperCenter"...I'm sure that the owners would gladly rent out some of its space relatively cheaply even if just for office space. Plenty of room for meetings too rather than booking high-priced hotel ballrooms...

Oh, this is the CRC we're talking about. Have they bought all their engineers and consultants brand new vehicles (luxury SUVs to boot) each year to stick on the project dime?

Re: "There's no actual job creation or change here, despite the giddy expectations that somehow, magically, the currently declining eBay will create a bunch of new business and new jobs."

EBay may actually be anticipating job growth locally. Reuters reported today:

"EBay (EBAY.O) is hunting for acquisitions to speed up its development of image recognition and augmented reality features as the online retailer and auctioneer seeks to capitalise on the potential of mobile phones to help consumers make impulse purchases."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/08/ebay-mobile-idUSLDE7571KR20110608?feedType=RSS&feedName=mergersNews&rpc=43

'I'm looking for companies that do interesting things with image recognition and also augmented reality,' [Steve Yankovich, head of eBay mobile] said, adding that he hoped to have image recognition and more augmented reality features available this year.

EBay, which says it is bigger than Amazon in mobile commerce, expects to more than double its mobile gross merchandise volume this year to $4 billion. Last year eBay's total gross merchandise volume was $53.5 billion.

Amazon does not break out mobile sales but eBay has about half the estimated total global market for physical goods sold via mobile."