Biotechnology

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.

The University of Rhode Island (URI) broke ground in March 2007 on the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences in Kingston, R.I. Funded in part by a $1 million donation from Amgen, the facility will serve as a major center of education and research that will drive economic development in the state's growing biotechnology industry. The architect for the center is Payette Associates of Boston, and Providence-based Gilbane Building Co. will serve as the construction manager.

Biotechnology firm FibroGen will relocate its headquarters and R&D operations to a 239,000-sf R&D facility in San Francisco’s Mission Bay in the fourth quarter of 2008. The facility is currently under construction and was designed by Dowler-Gruman Architects with Hathaway Dinwiddie as project contractor. FibroGen also plans to expand into a second 211,000-sf facility at the site that is being constructed to core and shell status. The site developers are Shorenstein Properties and SKS Investments.

Contract research organization Analytical Bio-Chemistry (ABC) broke ground in March 2007 on its new $14.4 million laboratory facility in Columbia, Mo. Sited in the University of Missouri’s Discovery Ridge Research Park, the 90,000-sf modular and scalable facility will house pharmaceutical development operations. The general contractor on the design-build project is ARCO Construction Company of St. Louis. The facility is being designed by ACI Boland Architects. Completion is slated for early 2008.

The Canadian federal government has announced the recipients of its 2007 research budget allocations. Science and technology growth will be supported by $1.3 billion in funding, including:

• $510 million to the Canada Foundation for Innovation 
• $350 million to Centres of Excellence in Commercialization and Research 
• $120 million to CANARIE to develop a next-generation research broadband network 
• $100 million to Genome Canada 
• $10 million to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

Scripps Florida is planning to construct its new 350,000-sf facility on the Florida Atlantic University John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter, Fla. Slated for completion in December 2008, the $18.6 million project will include three buildings. Building A will focus on chemistry, drug discovery, and translational research. Building B will focus on biotechnology, cells, genomes, and proteins, with an auditorium, cafeteria, and administrative offices. Building C will focus on biology and biomedical research.

The University of Puerto Rico has initiated construction on the $15 million Bioprocess Institute on its Mayaguez campus. Designed by CMA Architects & Engineers of San Juan, the facility will accommodate monoclonal bioprocess research and pilot-scale production. Completion is slated for 2008.

The University of Connecticut has purchased the 113,000-sf FarmTech building in Farmington and will spend $35-million to renovate it as a Center of Innovation for stem cell, genetics, and bioengineering research. Sited on 24 acres, the cross-disciplinary, collaborative facility will house wet and dry laboratories, business incubator space, classrooms, and the University’s human embryonic stem cell core laboratory. Sustainable design features of the building will include heat recovery systems and gray water recycling. The Center of Innovation is expected to open in 2009.

Elan Corp. is planning the $100-million construction of two buildings in South San Francisco. Totaling 185,000 sf, the three-story facilities will be owned by developer Chamberlin Associates and leased by Elan, enabling the pharmaceutical firm to hire an additional 500 employees. The project is being designed by Dowler-Gruman Architects. 

The City of New York is partnering with Alexandria Real Estate Equities of Pasadena, Calif., to develop the 1.1 million-sf East River Science Park. Groundbreaking will commence in early 2007 on the $700-million mixed-use life science campus sited on 3.5 acres in Manhattan. The first 670,000-sf phase of the project will consist of two towers, the first housing laboratory, office, and conference space; the second tower will house laboratory and office space over ground-level retail.