NEC America to build in Las Colinas; telecommunications equipment maker wants unified campus for U.S. headquarters.

LAS COLINAS - Despite gloomy financial results at its Japanese parent company, NEC America Inc. will move its corporate headquarters from New York to a 500,000-square-foot corporate campus here.

A company spokeswoman said at least 50 people will be added to NEC America's existing 900-member Metroplex work force in connection with the move which the telecommunications company hopes to complete by 2001.

NEC officials have not yet selected a site but have hired Pat O'Keefe, first vice president at CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s Dallas office, to represent them.

This week, NEC sent out requests for proposals to several architectural firms seeking designs for "generic Class A office space" in the Las Colinas area.

How many people will move from the company's current headquarters in Melville, N.Y., located on Long Island, has not been determined, said NEC spokeswoman Lourdes Cogswell.

In addition to its headquarters, NEC America also plans to locate its …