Industry News

The Institute for Economic Development will occupy its new $6-million facility in downtown San Antonio by July of 2003. Located near the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), the new facility will enable collaboration with UTSA faculty and interns. Ground was broken on the 33,000-sf facility last March. The Institute of Economic Development will relocate its 90 employees from its current KellyUSA location to the four-story facility, which is wired for videoconferencing and distance-business learning workshops.

Convergys Corp. is constructing a 170,000-sf call center in Bangalore, India. Housing employee testing areas, training rooms, a language laboratory, and a cafeteria, the facility will accommodate over 3,000 employees when it opens in May of 2003. Convergys, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, provides outsourced billing, human resources, and customer care services.

The New Jersey State Aquarium is planning to break ground on a $33.6-million expansion in late summer of 2003. Designed by Columbus, Ohio-based Steiner + Associates, the $33.6-million project will expand the Camden aquarium by 72,000 sf; retail, entertainment, and restaurants will also be constructed. Including surrounding development, the total project cost could reach $44-million. Steiner + Associates will be responsible for the operation of the expanded aquarium, which will include a new shark tank and hippopotamus area.

Waveworks Digital Media has relocated from Arlington to an 8,000-sf facility in McLean, Va. The twenty-year-old facility accommodates the post production shop’s fifteen employees and includes video suites, a music production facility, two audio rooms, and a music library.

Facilities and transportation engineering firm URS Corp. has leased 36,000 sf at Northpark Town Center in Atlanta. URS is vacating space at Corporate Campus in Alpharetta, at Peachtree Center North Tower, and at a small office in Tucker to consolidate operations in Atlanta.