Industry News

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) consolidated headquarters and laboratory campus broke ground recently at White Oak, a base realignment and closure site formerly home to the Naval Laboratory campus. The FDA, currently housed in more than 40 buildings at 18 different locations in the Washington, D.C., region will use 130 acres of the 670-acre campus.

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.

Lois Paul & Partners, a national public relations company, will relocate its headquarters from Burlington, Mass., to a 145,000-sf building under construction at MetroNorth Commerce Center in Woburn. The company will occupy 90,000 sf in the five-story structure, which is scheduled for completion in August 2001. Architect for the Lois Paul project is Margulies & Associates of Boston. Special features at the new headquarters include a web café, multimedia conference rooms, and distance learning training facilities.

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.