Industry News

The University of California, San Diego has completed construction of the new $45-million Leichtag Family Foundation Biomedical Research Building sited on the School of Medicine campus. General contractor McCarthy’s contract included construction of a four-level, 163,000-sf building with one below-grade level. The research building houses 40,000-sf of wet and dry lab space on four levels with 30 lab modules per floor, cold rooms, procedure rooms, dedicated dark rooms and research offices. The fourth floor houses Howard Hughes Medical Institute-supported research.

St. Joseph Hospital, an affiliate of Catholic Health System, broke ground on June 4, 2004 on an $11-million emergency department in Cheektowaga, N.Y. Slated for completion in 2005, the 15,000-sf department will be paperless, with all records, tests, and results transmitted electronically. Tripling the size of the current emergency department, the new ED will be able to treat over 40,000 patients annually.

Discovery Communications will locate its new programming distribution center in a 50,000-sf facility in Sterling, Va. Featuring automated systems that store programming without the use of video tapes, the center will accommodate the transmission of programming for Discovery’s 14 cable networks. Slated for occupancy in late 2005, the center will house 100 employees.

JetBlue has awarded Suitt Construction the design/build contract for its new $75-million training center at Orlando International Airport. The 100,000-sf facility will initially house eight pilot flight training simulators with the capacity to expand in phases to between 12 and 16 simulators. An auditorium, multiple classrooms, and two cabin training simulators will also be included in the facility. Completion is expected in spring 2005. Suitt Construction, based in Greenville, S.C., will manage the project through its Orlando office.

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.