Industry News

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will break ground in April of 2011 on a $30 million bioscience incubator in Worcester, Mass. Located in Gateway Park, the four-story, 92,000-sf facility will be financed, built, and owned by O’Connell Development Group. The building will house WPI’s Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center, the School of Business graduate program, and the expanded Fire Protection Engineering Department and research laboratory. The building will also provide additional space for the Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center.

Mount Sinai Medical Center is building the Center for Science and Medicine in New York. The 12-story, 500,000-sf facility will provide advanced research, clinical, and imaging facilities. The center will house the Translational Molecular Imaging Institute as well as linear accelerators and infusion suites. Occupancy is expected in 2012. The project construction manager is Bovis Lend Lease.

QualTex Laboratories opened a $5.8 million blood and plasma products testing lab in late 2010 in Norcross, Georgia. The Atlanta design/build team of Lord, Aeck & Sargent and DPR Construction completed the project in 13 months. The single-story, 57,000-sf facility includes 15,500 sf of laboratory space for sample processing, testing, quality assurance, and cold storage. Designed to optimize workflow efficiency and flexibility, the project features mobile casework and overhead service panels.

EMD Serono opened a $75 million pharmaceutical research and production facility in February of 2011. Located in Billerica, Mass., the 140,000-sf facility includes laboratories for chemistry, screening, biology, and cell culture. Construction began on the project in fall of 2008. The project represents an expansion of the company’s existing campus and includes offices, conference rooms, and an auditorium. Housing 200 researchers, the facility was designed by Ellenzweig with Jones Lang LaSalle as construction manager.

GlaxoSmithKline will build a 205,000-sf facility in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The four-story building will be developed by Liberty Property Trust and Synterra Partners and is expected to achieve LEED Platinum sustainable design certification. Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) is providing design services for the $81 million project. Site work will begin in March of 2011 with construction commencing in summer of 2011. Completion is expected by early 2013.