Microsoft Corp. has embarked on yet another ambitious project, this time not in the public cloud or some other technology field but an altogether different area: real estate.

The company today revealed plans to launch a multibillion-dollar overhaul of its headquarters in the Seattle suburb of Redmond. Expected to take between five to seven years, the construction is set to significantly expand the amount of office space in the already vast 500-acre campus and will create a more modern working environment for employees.

The development is the latest in a series of big-ticket real estate projects undertaken by major tech firms. Apple Inc. opened its sprawling new main campus in Cupertino, California, earlier this year, while Amazon.com Inc. is currently looking for a city to host a second headquarters projected to cost more than $5 billion.

Microsoft’s project is somewhat more traditional in comparison. Under the plan, the company will tear down 12 of the buildings currently used by employees and build 18 new facilities in their place that are expected to be up to twice as tall.

The move will add about 2.5 million square feet of office space, or enough to accommodate another 8,000 workers. That would enable Microsoft to raise the headcount at Redmond to a staggering 55,000 employees. Those staffers will have access to new open work spaces in the planned buildings, another 6.7 million square feet of renovated offices split up among 12 existing facilities and a variety of amenities.

One of the main highlight will be a two-acre plaza set to seat up to 12,000 people. Overall, Microsoft said, it will add “$150 million in transportation infrastructure improvements, public spaces, sports fields and green space.”

The fact that Microsoft is expanding its physical footprint so enthusiastically can be seen as a sign of optimism about future growth prospects. The company  had managed the transition from on-premises software to cloud services much more gracefully than some other enterprise tech giants and closed its last quarter with revenue up 12 percent to $24.5 billion. Microsoft’s cloud division reached a $20 billion annual run rate.

Image: Microsoft