Industry News

Medtronic Sofamor Danek, a developer and manufacturer of implantable cranium and spine treatment devices, will expand its Memphis, Tenn. facilities with the addition of 100,000-sf of office and R&D space. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Medtronic, currently occupies 280,000 sf in three locations in Memphis. The new facility is slated for occupancy by the third quarter of 2004.

Auburn University in Alabama has contracted Birmingham-based architecture and interior design firm The Garrison Barrett Group to design an 8,000-sf single-level facility to be sited next to the Club Golf Course practice range. The facility will house offices, classrooms, locker rooms, and team meeting rooms.

The University at Buffalo has opened the renovated Ellicott Food Court at its North Campus in Amherst. The $5-million project creates a vital hub area for Ellicott Dormitory's 3,250 residents.

Carolinas HealthCare System is planning a $70-million expansion of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, the system's flagship hospital. The project will add four floors to the top of the existing surgery tower and will include major expansion of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, the Trauma Intensive Care Unit, and the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit.

Tokyo, Japan-based drugmaker Eisai Co. is planning to begin construction in early 2004 on a $65-million R&D center in Andover, Mass. The facility will enable Eisai to double its U.S. basic research staff to as many as 170 employees. Eisai will also spend approximately $9-million on a second production line for drugs used in clinical testing at one of its existing U.S. research facilities.