Industry News

Michigan State University broke ground on the $90 million Secchia Center in Grand Rapids in April of 2008. Housing MSU’s College of Human Medicine, the project will support medical education and biomedical research in the areas of cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and neurobiology. The 180,000-sf, seven-story facility will include teaching laboratories, classrooms, offices, and student areas. The Secchia Center is slated for occupancy in fall of 2010.

Alltech Inc., a biotechnology company that produces health supplements for the animal feed industry, opened the 20,000-sf Center for Animal Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition in Nicholasville, Ky., in April of 2008. The facility will accommodate research into the effect of nutrition on gene expression and will include faculty and staff from the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture. The project represents an expansion of Alltech’s existing research facility.

The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital celebrated the official groundbreaking of its 22-story facility in Chicago on April 21, 2008. Slated for completion in 2012, the 1.25 million-sf pediatric hospital will include 288 single-patient rooms with a footprint of 290-sf each and 12 clinical research beds. The $850 million project will seek LEED certification for sustainable design and construction.

The State University of New York at Oswego is planning the renovation and expansion of the existing 80,000-sf Piez Hall to create a 262,000-sf state-of-the-art science center. The first phase of the project, designed by Cannon Design, consists of renovations to Piez Hall and the construction of a 50,000-sf addition; groundbreaking is slated for summer of 2008. The second phase involves the construction of a $69.5 million, 132,000-sf laboratory building fronting Piez Hall.

Piedmont Healthcare will break ground in fall of 2008 on the $194 Piedmont Newnan Hospital in Newnan, Ga. Sited on 114 acres, the 365,000-sf replacement hospital is slated for completion in 2010. The facility will house 136 inpatient beds, including 104 medical/surgical beds, 18 critical care beds, and 14 post-partum beds. Creating an optimal healing environment with green spaces and ample natural light, the eight-story facility is designed with completely separate inpatient and outpatient care areas.