Industry News

BioMerieux, a French diagnostic instruments maker, is expanding its U.S. headquarters in Durham's Teer Technical Park with the lease of an additional 20,000 sf. The space will house research in probe instrument technology. 

Sigma Xi, the international scientific and engineering honor society and publisher of American Scientist magazine, is building a 52,840-sf headquarters facility in Research Triangle Park. The building will house a 200-seat auditorium, exhibit space, conference facilities, a catering kitchen, and office space for Sigma Xi's 44 employees.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute opened the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center on Sept. 15, 2003. The center is one of six Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers designated by the National Science Foundation. The facility houses an atomic force microscope and equipment for studying nanotubes.

Richardson Regional Medical Center broke ground in early September 2003 on its $49-million Bush/Renner campus in Richardson, Texas. The first development phase of the 20.5-acre site will include a 100,000-sf, five-story medical office building opening in August 2004, and an outpatient surgery center and an urgent care center to open in fall of 2004. The master plan for the site details a physical rehabilitation center, a second physician office building, and a 500-bed acute care hospital. A comprehensive cancer center could also be constructed on the site.

The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts and architects Foster and Partners of London and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture of Rotterdam and New York have completed the master plan for a new Dallas arts center. The center will house three performance venues, the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, an 800-seat multiform theater, and the 5,000-seat Annette Strauss Artist Square, with an expanded seating capacity of up to 10,000. Construction on the $250-million center is expected to begin in 2004 with completion in late 2007 or early 2008.