Industry News

The Greater Richmond Convention Center, originally built to 167,000 sf in 1986, is undergoing a $165-million renovation and expansion that will enlarge the facility to almost 700,000 sf. Slated to open in February 2003, the Richmond, Va., center will house 32 meeting rooms totaling 50,000 sf; 180,000 sf of exhibition space; a 258-seat auditorium; a 30,000-sf ballroom; and a 250-seat food court.

The General Services Administration is planning a 93,000-sf expansion of the 654,000-sf H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse in Washington. Project cost is expected to range from $50- to $100-million. The expansion includes a 79,000-sf addition to the Family Court entrance and a 13,900-sf pavilion addition to the Superior Court entrance.

The Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial is slated for construction in Washington. The $100-million project, managed by Concord Partners of Washington, will include a 50,000-sf addition to the 30,000-sf National Bank of Washington building purchased two years ago for the museum by the Armenian Assembly of America.

Serologicals Corp. of Atlanta is planning to construct a $28-million plant to manufacture its EX-CYTE serum-free cell culture supplement for the biotech industry. Ground will be broken as early as the first quarter of 2003, with completion slated for the first half of 2004. Sited on 12.5 acres in East Hills Business Park in Lawrence, Kansas, the project will initially consist of one 45,000-sf facility.  

The University of North Carolina School of Medicine is nearing completion of the $23.5-million Bioinformatics Building in Chapel Hill. The 152,000-sf project was designed by Brown Jurkowski Architectural Collaborative PA. Contractor for the project is Clancy & Theys. The engineering team includes GKC Associates (structural); Newcomb & Boyd (mechanical, electrical, fire protection, audio/visual); Diehl & Phillips (civil); and Donna D.