Industry News

Connetics Corp., a maker of acne and dermatological disease products, is relocating within the city of Palo Alto, Calif. from 53,000 sf at its current West Bayshore Road location to 96,000 sf in the Stanford Research Park. Connetics may also lease an additional 20,000 sf in an adjacent building at the site, which is the former headquarters of Incyte Corp. The move and subsequent renovations at the new location will double Connetics’ office and laboratory space.

Hershey Foods has completed a 1.1 million-sf distribution center in Edwardsville, Ill. Located in the Gateway Commerce Center, the facility includes a two-story, 19,000-sf office area. The exterior of the building uses insulated metal panels allowing a 60 degree temperature in the interior, which features a special concrete floor constructed to handle the loads required by Hershey’s storage needs. The project contractor was Korte Co. of  St. Louis.

Owens-Illinois broke ground on a 450,000-sf glass manufacturing plant in Windsor, Colo., in early June 2004. The $119-million plant will manufacture about 1 billion bottles annually for the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fort Collins.

Sandia/California National Laboratories dedicated the new Distributed Information Systems Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., on June 10, 2004. The 70,000-sf facility will enable high-speed information transfer between labs, particularly those with a focus on nuclear weapons research. The $37.9-laboratory will accommodate 130 researchers and include unclassified space where twenty to thirty visiting researchers can work with Sandia staff members. Sandia operates sites in both Livermore and Albuquerque.

Tokyo-based Toray Industries has completed construction of a 70,000-sf manufacturing plant in Decatur, Ala. Built by Doster Construction of Birmingham, the $25-million plant will produce Teflon fiber products used in DuPont fabrics, sealants, and non-stick cooking surfaces. Designed by Gresham Smith & Partners of Nashville, the facility is sited across the street from Toray’s existing $70-million, seven-year-old facility.