Industry News

Kaiser Permanente is planning a $68.45-million expansion of its Moanalua Medical Center in Hawaii. A five-story, 176,000-sf tower will be constructed, and 95,000 sf of existing space in the inpatient medical center will be renovated. The expansion will add five urgent care rooms, eight operating rooms, six emergency rooms, and 68 new acute-care beds.

Axygen Scientific , a manufacturer of laboratory materials, is relocating its corporate headquarters to a new $9.9-million custom built facility in Union City, Calif. The facility at the new site, previously the home of Crown Cork & Seal Co., was demolished and rebuilt. The warehouse is sited near to the company's old location in Union City.

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center is planning to construct a $22-million regional biocontainment laboratory on its Memphis campus. Focusing on bio-defense and infectious disease research, the facility will be funded with bonds and $14.8 million from the National Institutes of Health . Additionally, a $43-million pharmacy facility will also be constructed at the UT Health Science Center.  

Honda Motor Co . is planning to construct a 250,000-sf automatic transmission assembly plant in Tallapoosa, Ga. Production will begin at the $100-million facility in fall 2006. The plant will produce 300,000 transmissions annually for the Odyssey minivans and Pilot SUVs manufactured at Honda's Lincoln, Ala., facility.

FedEx Ground will construct a 247,000-sf distribution center on 75 acres in Kennesaw, Ga. Tripling the size of the current FedEx Ground terminal in Marietta (which it will replace), the facility will feature high technology materials handling systems and will be capable of processing 15,000 packages per hour when it opens in summer of 2006. In 2010 the facility is expected to be converted to a 322,000-sf hub able to sort 30,000 packages per hour.