Microsoft today announced plans to construct 14 new buildings to its current campus in Redmond, Washington. The company originally planned to add about half of the buildings approved by the city council over the next 15 to 20 years, but now says that it will have the new offices available already in three years.

By 2009, Microsoft plans to have an extra 3.1 million square feet available, which is expected to house about 12,000 people. The construction is estimated to cost about $1 billion.

Microsoft said that it currently employs about 30,000 of its 63,000 employees in the Puget Sound area. During the current fiscal year, the company plans to hire between 4000 and 5000 new employees. The company expects approximately 40% of the additions will be in the US - and a majority of those will be working in the Puget Sound region.