Industry News

The University of Queensland opened the $70-million Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) in Brisbane on Oct. 23, 2006. Located on the school's St. Lucia campus, the six-level facility will accommodate research combining the biological, physical, and chemical sciences. Housing over 250 staff and students with a maximum capacity of 350, the center houses state-of-the-art microfabrication facilities, a GMP-ready bioprocessing facility, world-class microscopy facilities, and advanced data storage and visualization capabilities. 

AMDeC Co., a consortium representing 35 medical institutions in the New York area, is creating a multi-institutional rodent housing facility in Yonkers, New York. Holding up to 80,000 cages and 40,000 mice, the facility will enable institutions such as Columbia University, Rockefeller University, the New York University School of Medicine, and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System to share space and equipment for research.

The State Compensation Insurance Fund, headquartered in San Francisco, is building two new campuses in Vacaville and Pleasanton, Calif. A 430,000-sf office complex on 33 acres in Vacaville's Vaca Valley Business Park will accommodate over 1,200 employees in five two-story buildings comprising a total of 434,375-sf. The project will be developed in three phases. Phase one will broke ground in late 2006 and will reach completion on three buildings by late 2008. Phase two will begin in 2009 and conclude in 2011.

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center will open a new $24-million research center on its ten-acre Torrey Pines campus in San Diego on November 9, 2006. The 90,000-sf research facility will contain 71,000 sf of dedicated science research space, 54 benches, equipment rooms, and a conference center. Designed by Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the research center was constructed by Rudolph & Sletten with Kavanagh Associates as project manager.

Ford Motor Co. has selected Dallas-based Trammell Crow to provide comprehensive real estate management for Ford's facilities in the United States and Canada. Totaling 30 million sf, the contract includes brokerage, transaction management, lease administration, facility management, and construction project management for Ford's North American portfolio. Ford is headquartered in Dearborn, Mich.