Biotechnology

Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS) initiated construction in February of 2008 on a $40 million, 100,000-sf headquarters facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Comprised of office and laboratory space, the project is being built by Suffolk Construction in the Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition. The 189-employee building is slated to open in 2009 and will house $9 million in equipment. The project will seek LEED certification for sustainable design and construction.

The University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine is planning a 1.4 million-sf life science park in Miami, Fla. Sited on 7.2 acres, the development will foster advances in translational research by building partnerships between private biotech and biomedical companies and University researchers. The project was in the design phase in January of 2008 with initial construction expected to begin in 2010.

The Georgia Institute of Technology is constructing the $80 million Marcus Nanotechnology Building in Atlanta. Ground was broken on the project, which houses the NRCB (Nanotechnology Research Center Building) cleanrooms, in August of 2006 with completion slated for summer of 2008. The project is comprised of five stories of laboratory and office space and a 30,000-sf, three-level cleanroom.

Palm Beach Community College (PBCC) opened the 91,000-sf BioScience Technology Complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. in January of 2008. Featuring state-of-the-art laboratories to support the college’s associate's degree in biotechnology, the project will enable students to acquire the skills required by local employers such as Scripps Research Institute. The $15 million facility also houses a wellness center, a lecture hall, and meeting rooms. PBCC is also constructing a $9.2 million, 50,000-sf science building on its Lake Worth campus.

Needham, Ma.-based environmental engineering and consulting firm EH&E has authored a free white paper titled “Biosafety Review Key to Infection Control”. Aiming to help technicians and safety personnel to minimize risk of laboratory infection, the paper outlines strategies for compliance with NIH, CDC, OSHA, and BMBL guidelines.

Download the paper on EH&E website (registration required)

The University of Colorado is planning to construct the 260,000-sf Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Center in Boulder. Funded in part by a $20 million donation from faculty biochemistry professor and Amgen founder Marvin Caruthers, the $115 million multidisciplinary facility will bring together biologists, computer scientists, engineers, chemists, and physicists. The project is part of the University’s Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology.

The North Carolina Community College System dedicated the BioNetwork Capstone Center in September of 2007. The biopharmaceutical training facility is located in the 82,500-sf Golden LEAF BTEC building on NCSU’s Centennial campus in Raleigh. The BioNetwork Capstone Center will train second-year biotechnology community college students as well as providing continuing education to industry employees.

Genzyme broke ground on a $150 million expansion of its Allston Landing manufacturing facility in Boston in September of 2007. The project will enable Genzyme to expand its workforce with 90 additional employees. Comprised of 86,000 sf of new office and manufacturing support space and a 26,000-sf underground cogeneration facility, the project will seek LEED certification for sustainable design and construction practices. The project team includes ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge with Turner Construction as general contractor.

Monsanto Company completed construction of its $21 million, 40,000-sf data center in Creve Coeur, Mo. in September of 2007. The 40,000-sf facility, supporting the company’s global data and computation needs, began construction in early 2006. It is capable of withstanding up to 200 mile-per-hour winds and earthquakes up to 5.0 on the Richter scale. Monsanto expects to receive LEED certification for the facility, making it the first LEED certified data center in the state.

Construction on the David Murdock Core Lab Building at the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) in Kannapolis is slated for completion in late 2007. The $200-million, 311,000-sf facility will house approximately $90 million in equipment including a 900 megahertz NMR, an 800 megahertz NMR, and a 700 megahertz NMR. The facility will be managed by Duke University and will include a genomics lab, an imaging facility with electron microscopes, and a GMP manufacturing facility for biologics and small molecules.

Cornell University is constructing the $162 million Weill Hall in Ithaca, N.Y. The 250,000-sf building, also known as the Life Sciences Technology Building, is slated for completion in early 2008. The research facility will be the centerpiece of Cornell's New Life Sciences Initiative (NLSI), an effort to promote the college’s progress in genomic-led research. The facility is expected to attain LEED Gold certification for sustainable design and construction.

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) began construction on its Onna-Son campus in late 2006. The interdisciplinary research institute will accommodate approximately 300 faculty and 3,000 researchers in the areas of life science, neuroscience, biology, chemistry, nanotechnology, engineering, computer science, mathematics, and physics. Housing research facilities, laboratories, seminar rooms, a library, auditorium, housing, and dining, the two-site campus will feature a three-wing laboratory zone designed to maximize interaction and collaboration.

Nanyang Technological University is planning to develop a graduate bioengineering research center at it new campus near Buona Vista in Singapore. The projected facility will engage up to 200 investigators with a focus on biology, mathematics, and engineering in cross-disciplinary research. The center is expected to be developed in 2008.

Louisiana Tech University celebrated the opening of its $12 million biomedical engineering building in Ruston, La., in early May of 2007. The facility is connected to the Institute for Micromanufacturing and features technologically rich laboratories, classrooms, collaboration spaces, and faculty offices as well as an economic development incubator called the Humana Enterprise Center. Construction was completed in two years. Future plans for the university include a $25 million research park in Ruston.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth opened its new bioengineering, molecular biology, and cell biology research facility in April of 2007. Home of the National Botulism Research Center, the $14.4 million high-security building will accommodate biotechnology and biochemistry research. The 22,081-sf project was designed by Architectural Resources Cambridge with modular, flexible laboratories and extensive safety measures including the use of exterior concrete barriers.