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.

The University of California San Francisco-Parnassus is planning a new $39.7-million seismic replacement laboratory. McCarthy will build the five-story, 86,000-sf facility, which will be completely seismic compliant. Included in the structure, scheduled for June 2004 completion, will be state-of-the-art equipment washing systems and numerous care and surgery facilities. Architect for the project is Flad & Associates of San Francisco.

Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, working with project manager and builder McCarthy, has completed its new $55-million Life Science and High Technology Center. The biotech project included construction of a 145,000-sf lab building to house 220 life scientists. With three stories above grade and one below, the building also features a three-story atrium, and an attached 12,000-sf learning center. Architects for the project were Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (HOK) and Lockwood Greene, both of St. Louis.