Government

Brown University has received $11 million in funding from a renewal of the National Institutes of Health's Center of Biomedical Research Excellence Grant. In addition to funding research projects, the grant will create a bioinformatics core facility for conducting database analysis. A genomics core facility and a transgenic core facility for creating genetically altered mice, created by the previous NIH grant, will also be supported by the funding.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation broke ground in October 2005 on a new division headquarters facility in Houston. The project consists of an eight-story, 250,000-sf office plus 50,000-sf in two smaller buildings. The high technology facility will be constructed to meet all post-Sept. 11 federal building criteria by Mississippi-based W.G. Yates and Sons. The construction cost is approximately $54.1 million. Upon completion in two years, the headquarters will house 720 employees.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has completed construction of the new $165-million Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory. Located on the CDC's Edward R. Roybal campus in Atlanta, the 12-story building plus attached five-story structure includes BSL-4, BSL-3, and BSL-2 facilities, offices, molecular biology suites, analytical equipment laboratories, a central glass washing facility, and a central utility plant. Housing over 450 researchers, the 400,000-sf laboratory is slated to open in fall 2005. Construction began in October 2001.

The Tulane National Primate Research Center has received two grants of $4 million each from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health for new construction and expansion of its current breeding facility in Covington, La. The first grant will fund construction of a facility that will house monkeys assigned to a variety of research studies and nursery facilities for infant monkeys.

The City of Denver is planning to construct a new $378-million Justice Center. The master plan for the facility, designed by David Owen Tryba Architects of Denver, includes a 320,428-sf courthouse with 35 criminal courtrooms; a 430,494-sf detention center holding 1,500 inmates; two arraignment courts; and 684-car parking garage plus 204 additional staff parking spaces.

Brookhaven National Laboratory celebrated the groundbreaking of the 94,500-sf Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) in Upton, N.Y., in October of 2005. Designed by HDR Architecture of Alexandria, Va., and constructed by E.W. Howell Co. of Woodbury, N.Y., the $81-million CFN is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers to be constructed at Department of Energy national laboratories. The construction cost of the facility is $38 million.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has selected Gilbane Development Company to develop and leaseback a new headquarters building and renovate several existing facilities in the Houston area. The new 130,000-sf, five-story headquarters will be developed on a 16-acre site in western Houston. The project will also include a 14,000-sf stand-alone laboratory and 575-vehicle parking garage at the site.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has completed construction of a 12-story biodefense research facility at its main campus in Atlanta. Slated to open in November 2005, the approximately 400,000-sf project includes a global communications center and an emergency operations center and will triple available BSL-4 laboratory space. Additionally, laboratories in the facility can be adjusted to different safety levels depending on the containment level needed.

Construction began in early July 2005 on a new $6.6-million facility for New Mexico's Sevilleta Research and Education Center.

The University of Chicago will begin construction in fall 2005 on the $31-million Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory, a germ research facility to be located at Argonne National Laboratory, which the University manages for the federal government.

The Food and Drug Administration has completed the 551,000-sf Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in White Oak, Md. Housing 1,750 employees, the facility is the largest building at the new FDA headquarters complex under construction in White Oak. Upon completion in 2010, the FDA campus will include 3.1 million sf of office and lab space and will consolidate employees from 48 leased sites in Maryland.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Computer Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C., has achieved LEED® Silver certification. The two-story, 100,000-sf facility was completed in 2001 at a cost of $18 million, or approximately $150 per square foot minus site and utility infrastructure cost. Designed by O'Brien/Atkins Associates and built by Skanska USA , the facility was constructed on a standard budget.

Sedgwick County has awarded Kechi-based Walz Harman & Huffman Construction the $6.8 million contract to build the county's new Public Safety Center in Wichita. Construction will begin on the two-story, 27,000-sf building in early July 2005. Designed by Wichita-based Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture, the facility is expected to reach completion in 18 months. The total cost of the project is $10.4 million including preparation, design, and equipment.

The Pelham Police Department will relocate to its new Pelham, Ala., facility in spring of 2006. Located next to City Hall, the $6.5-million building will house a jail, courtrooms, magistrate's office, an evidence laboratory, an indoor firing range, and an armory. The three-story, 46,000-sf facility will be equipped with 24-hour emergency power. The project team consists of architectural firm Paul B. Krebs & Associates and project manager Maxus Construction Co.

The Environmental Protection Agency broke ground in early June 2005 on its new Region 8 headquarters in Denver, Colo. The $90-million, 292,000-sf facility will house office and commercial space.