Industry News

The National Museum of the American Indian will be entering the second phase of construction with completion estimated for 2004. A $140 million contract for foundation, structure, shell interior and landscaping will be awarded by the Smithsonian Institution, and construction is expected to begin in June 2001. Phase one included site preparation at the National Mall location, which cost approximately $4 million. The museum will house more than 800,000 artifacts.

German firm Leica Microsystems is relocating the headquarters of its semiconductor division to Chantilly, Va. A producer of life-science equipment, Leica will move its division base to a $1.5 million, 10,000-sf facility in the Westfields office park.

Delaware-based multinational DuPont is consolidating its seven Richmond-area warehouse and logistics centers into a new 800,000-sf two-building complex. The $30 million Chesterfield county relocation will is near DuPont's Spruance manufacturing plant.

Construction has begun on a new 750,000-sf headquarters for Chevy Chase Bank.  The building will feature two 15-story towers on a four-story base,  the 4,000-seat Roundhouse Theater and a 40,000-sf public plaza. Approximately 250,000 sf in the East Tower will be leased to corporate and retail tenants. Brennan Beer Gorman Monk/Architects & Interiors of Washington designed the building.

Frederick, Md.-based Bio-Tech Imaging, a developer and manufacturer of HIV tests, recently opened a 30,000-sf manufacturing plant in Shreveport, La. As Bio-Tech expands its manufacturing scope to include diagnostic tests for cancer and hepatitis C, sites for two new production facilities will be sought in the greater Washington area.