Industry News

Aldrich Chemical Co. is consolidating three citywide locations with a move to an 800,000-sf plant in Milwaukee. Slated to begin in fall and continue through June 2005, the relocation was prompted by a need to make room for the reconstruction of the Marquette interchange where Aldrich’s main site was located. The sale of the site will fund the $65-million expansion and renovation of the new plant. Aldrich Chemical is a subsidiary of Sigma-Aldrich Corp. of St. Louis, a producer of biochemical and organic chemical products.

Wake Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management is planning to open a 30,000-sf campus in Charlotte. The project will be sited in a new development owned by Wachovia Corp. and will include a 1,200-seat performing arts center.

The USDA is constructing a BSL-3AG replacement facility in Ames, Iowa. Designed to foster scientific collaboration in animal health and food safety among three separate federal government agencies, the facility is structured for concurrent research on multiple animal disease pathogens. Designed by Merrick & Company of Aurora, Colo., the $60-million facility and $20-million infrastructure upgrade will include 159,000 sf of total space, 52,000-sf of it in high containment areas.

St. Joseph Hospital broke ground in March 2004 on a new four-story, 240,000-sf patient care tower in Orange, Calif. Complete with a full basement and a 13,000-sf central plant, the tower will feature 150 patient beds and 14 operating rooms. Built in a confined space between two healthcare facilities with round the clock operations, the tower is slated for completion in April 2007. The project architect is NBBJ of Seattle, with McCarthy as project contractor.