Industry News

PerkinElmer Life Sciences, based in Boston, has a new 3,800-sf manufacturing building under construction in Billerica. The renovated space will accommodate 10-12 employees. The plant will produce Yttrium 90 for use in radiotherapeutic cancer treatment. It is anticipated that the facility will be operational in early 2002.

Abbott Labs has proposed a 1,000,000-sf expanison in Redwood City, providing manufacturing and R&D facilities for the Chicago-based bioscience company's cardiac products. Maximizing the company's proximity to the world-class cardiac clinics at Sequoia Hospital and Stanford Hospital, Abbot purchased the Redwood City-based Perclose biotech in 1999. Abbott plans to spend up to $350 million on the new complex. Ground may be broken on the three-phase project by the end of 2002.

Britain-based Slough Estates USA is planning to develop the Britannia East Grand in South San Francisco, a 783,533-sf biotech facility designed by South San Francisco-based DES and to be built by Hathaway Dinwiddie.  Pending final approval in April 2002, the $300 million project involves replacing the 100-year-old ICI paint factory with a leading-edge biotech laboratory. Slated to break ground mid-year, the project would bring Slough's South San Francisco holdings to over 2.7 million sf.

Chiron is proceeding with the development of 300,000 sf in Emeryville, scheduled to break ground in July 2002. The new lab space is part of a 20-year city-approved plan including a 2.2 million-sf growth margin for the diagnostic testing, vaccine and drug development firm.

Vanguard Group has completed construction of three 120,000-sf buildings on a 300-acre site in Malvern. The mutual fund giant is also initiating premliminary work on a 250-acre, 2.5 million-sf campus which may enter the first phase of construction in spring of 2002. The multiphase project would begin with the development of two 320,000-sf facilities on 70 acres.