Industry News

Anthem Inc., the Indianapolis-based parent company of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky, broke ground in early June 2004 on a 240,000-sf headquarters in Louisville. Slated for completion in August 2005, the facility is expected to cost between $24 million and $30 million. Located in the Triton Office Park in the 700-acre Eastpoint Business Center, the four-story building will consolidate 1,200 workers from three area offices.

Comcast Corp. opened its 86,000-sf call center in Irving, Texas in early June 2004. The facility will accommodate 450 employees, including local technical operations teams, managers, and customer service workers.

Cryo-Cell, a stem cell banking firm offering cord blood preservation, will occupy an 18,000-sf plant in Oldsmar, Fla. Developed by Harrod Properties, the facility will reach completion by late summer of 2004. Built to comply with federal regulations for good manufacturing practices for human cellular and tissue-based products, the facility will include a cleanroom and space for clinical services, administration, marketing, and processing of cord blood stem cells. The plant will be sited less than five miles from Cryo-Cell’s Clearwater, Fla., headquarters.

Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster, Texas is planning a $10 million expansion of its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Slated to begin construction in summer 2004 and reach completion in fall 2005, the project will quadruple the existing unit’s size from 5,000-sf to 20,000-sf.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati initiated construction on June 7, 2004 on its new campus in Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, Ohio. Slated for occupancy in less than 500 days, the $12.5 million project involves the transformation of an 80,000-sf industrial building and an adjacent 40,000-sf warehouse into one 120,000-sf facility. The new campus will consolidate the Academy’s two outdated, separate facilities.