Biotechnology

MedImmune’s new 220,000-sf administrative headquarters and R&D complex in Gaithersburg, Md., was awarded “Best Biotech Office” and “Best Interiors-Commercial Space” by the Maryland/DC chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties in June 2004. The facility, designed by HOK Architects of St. Louis and developed by Quadrangle Development of D.C., was occupied by MedImmune in March 2004. The headquarters features a common area designed to foster interaction and collaboration.

Growing biotech company Gilead is expanding with the lease of 140,000 sf located next to its 500,000-sf headquarters in Foster City, Calif. Located in Vintage Park, the facility was previously slated as Webvan ’s headquarters. The building will accommodate additional office and research space.

Cryo-Cell, a stem cell banking firm offering cord blood preservation, will occupy an 18,000-sf plant in Oldsmar, Fla. Developed by Harrod Properties, the facility will reach completion by late summer of 2004. Built to comply with federal regulations for good manufacturing practices for human cellular and tissue-based products, the facility will include a cleanroom and space for clinical services, administration, marketing, and processing of cord blood stem cells. The plant will be sited less than five miles from Cryo-Cell’s Clearwater, Fla., headquarters.

A new diagnostic biotech facility will be constructed on 100 acres south of the Texas Medical Center. The $80-million facility will be funded by $25 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, $25 million each from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center, and $5 million from the University of Texas System.

North Carolina Central University will receive $200,000 in federal funds toward the construction of the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Training Enterprise facility on the university’s Durham campus.

Xcyte Therapies has broken ground on a new $4 million manufacturing facility in Bothell, Wash. The Seattle-based biotech will manufacture its most advanced product, Xcellerated T Cells, in the new facility, which could make enough T Cells to use in clinical trials beginning in 2005. The plant will potentially manufacture T Cells to treat up to 18,000 patients annually.

Oregon State University is planning a technology research park on 52 acres near its Corvalis, Ore., campus. The RFP process is expected to reach completion by year-end 2004, with the first building opening in July of 2006. Comprised of as many as three anchor buildings housing multiple companies, the project will also house laboratory and office space. Targeted industries include bioscience and health, mixed signal processing, and pharmaceuticals. The first multiclient building will be between 40,000 sf and 85,000 sf.

Scripps/University Biotech Consortium is planning to build a Florida Universities and Scripps East Research Consortium Center adjacent to its planned 364,000-sf facility in Palm Beach County. Sited on 150 acres, the first phase of the $10 million, 15,000-gsf project includes design and construction of a campus gateway, a central utility plant, a large reception area, office suites, and meeting rooms.

M+W Zander U.S. Operations is completing the $3.5-million office and cleanroom construction training center in 60,000 sf of Building 44 at the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, N.Y. A joint venture of Albany NanoTech, Arsenal Business and Technology Partnership, and M+W Zander, the center will train members of the Pipe Fitters Union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and sheet metal workers to construct and maintain cleanroom facilities and install precision machinery.

The University of Washington (UW) is building the 280,000-sf Bioengineering and Genomic Sciences Building in Seattle. The project houses research space for the UW School of Medicine and its Department of Genome Sciences, as well as the Department of Bioengineering. Ground will be broken in August 2004 with completion slated for 2005.

Washington State University (WSU) is planning the seven-building Research and Education Complex on its Pullman campus. Each building will accommodate approximately 100,000 sf. Building 1, a $39 million addition to the existing Johnson Hall, will house bioscience research and is expected to reach completion in June 2005. Building 2, the $62-million Biotechnology/Life Sciences Facility, will include a vivarium.

The University of Houston will complete the $76-million Science and Engineering Research and Classroom Complex in spring of 2006. Designed by Cesar Pelli, the facility will enable collaboration between researchers from the Cullen College of Engineering and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The complex will accommodate research in biotechnology, nano-lithography, DNA chips, protein chips, materials, optoelectronics, synthetic medicinal chemistry, and drug design.

St. Louis-based Sigma Aldrich Corp. will construct an $8-million laboratory-scale production facility in Hyderabad, India. Expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2005, the 50,000-sf complex will eventually house up to 80 chemists doing contract research and process development for the pharmaceutical industry.

Genentech has expanded with the lease of 141,348 sf of office space in an 11-story, 249,732-sf building in Boston Properties’ Gateway Commons in South San Francisco.  

North Carolina Sate University is planning a 91,000-sf biomanufacturing test facility that will simulate a good-manufacturing-practices environment at its Raleigh campus. The $36-million facility, funded by a Golden Leaf grant, will provide workforce training for the biomanufacturing industry.