Industry News

As proposed by the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, Convergys is considering a 1 million-sf "urban campus" headquarters on two blocks of The Banks riverfront development. Most of the planned office space would be located on top of an existing garage. Convergys has been seeking a location for its new headquarters since last summer.

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has contracted the D.C. office of URS as technical consultant for a new cancer research building. The original cancer research building was also designed by URS, an architectural and engineering services firm.

Toronto-based ManuLife Financial Corp. will build a new 470,000-sf "green" headquarters in South Boston. The 14-story building will be one of the first buildings in the nation utilizing a double-skin exterior curtainwall facade.

SouthTrust Bank will occupy a new main office building in the Atlantic Station development in Midtown Atlanta to be constructed by 2004. Developed by AIG Global Real Estate Investment, the building will house 300 banking and administrative employees in 95,000 sf on the building's first five floors. SouthTrust also completed construction in May at its Marietta, Ga., data center. SouthTrust's Corporate Banking and Enterprise Bank organizations are both based in Atlanta.

The University of the Incarnate Word broke ground earlier this week on a 3,360-sf expansion of the 1,200-sf Presa Community Center. Staffed with UIW faculty and students, the expansion will house a permanent office and resource center providing tutoring and mentoring programs, computer literacy classes, and small-business assistance. A Department of Housing and Urban Development grant is funding the $228,453 project. The Presa Community Center originated as a facility providing social services and helping families to become self-sufficient.