Industry News

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, based in Chevy Chase, Md., purchased the 281-acre Janelia Farm in December 2000 with plans for a large research campus on the property. Three office buildings and a Normandy-style mansion already exist at the site, which can support more than 2.5 million sf of space. The biomedical company is based in Chevy Chase, Md., where its headquarters will remain.

Zygo TeraOptix, based in Holliston, Mass., has a $9-million renovation and expansion under way in Westborough at a newly purchased 87,000-sf facility. A 33,500-sf expansion will create a new floor within one section of the structure that has 50'-high ceilings, bringing the total space available to 120,000 sf. Employees began occupying approximately 30,000 sf of the building in December 2000. Manufacturing operations for the optical networking company will be shifted from Holliston to the new facility when construction is completed.

The Yamacraw Design Center,  the facility that will house Georgia’s initiative for technology economic development in broadband telecommunications, is being developed in Midtown Atlanta. The building will include institutional and commercial design technology demonstration studios; prototypes of labs for applied R&D; and incubator and industry representative office space for member companies. Lord, Aeck & Sargent of Atlanta is the architect for the project.

Cirrus Logic Inc. has plans to consolidate employees from its administrative, engineering, and sales functions at a new 190,000-sf corporate headquarters in Building V at the Terrace Business Park in Austin. The new facility has been approved for construction and will accommodate offices for approximately 500 employees when it opens in summer 2002. Manufacturing and testing operations will continue at the company’s 60,000-sf plant in Southeast Austin. The company will also maintain its storage applications operations in Fremont, Calif.

Biosquare, a $650-million biotech development, is under construction in Boston. Boston University and Boston University Medical Center are the developers of the project, which is being built in two phases. Phase one  encompasses 1.2 million sf of space including 60,000 sf of space for animal testing, an in-house incinerator, and a 1,000-car parking garage. Phase one is nearing completion. Phase two will provide 1.3 million additional sf of space for labs and offices, a 240-room hotel, and an a 1,200-car parking garage.