Industry News

The Minute Maid Co., an operating division of The Coca-Cola Co. of Atlanta, is planning to build a noncarbonated beverage production plant in Auburndale.  The 620,000-sf facility will cost $130-million for construction and equipment. In two weeks, site preparation will begin, with groundbreaking following in another two weeks. The plant, which will employ approximately 300 workers, is slated to be operational in March 2003.

Regional Medical Center San Jose is designing a new hospital at its 30-acre site in East San Jose. Plans for the new hospital, developed by HCA Inc., will be submitted to the state within a year, with anticipated approval the following year. The facility will eventually replace San Jose Medical Center, which will close in four years. Regional plans approximately 250 beds in the new facility, which will feature an emergency department with trauma room and helipad, triple the size of its former 7,000-sf unit.

Pixar, a computer animation company, plans to develop the second phase of its corporate campus on 14 company-owned acres in Emeryville. Within the next 60 to 90 days, a preliminary plan for the expansion will be submitted to the City Planning Department, with possible approval by year-end. The original 1996 plans for the site included 415,000 sf, half of which has been developed. No additional environmental review for the project will be required if the new plans retain a similar project scope and location.

UNC Hospitals is planning to replace the Gravely Building, home of the North Carolina Clinical Cancer Center, with a new $140-million cancer tower in Chapel Hill. The 300,000-sf facility will provide complete outpatient cancer care, housing physician and specialist offices, radiation and chemotherapy facilities, and a pharmacy. Part of UNC's facility master plan, the cancer tower, which has yet to be designed, will be developed over the next five years.

Duke University Medical Center in Durham plans to increase outpatient treatment capacity from 80 to 125 patients per day with a $3.5-million renovation of its comprehensive cancer center. Duke will add 10 treatment stations and 27 waiting room chairs.