Government

The Alameda County Health Service Agency will break ground in late March 2003 on the second of three planned buildings at the Creekside Plaza office park in San Leandro. Developed by Creekside Associates LLC, a subsidiary of The Innisfree Companies of Sausalito, the 50,041-sf leased building will house the Health Finance Agency, Emergency Medical Services and Family Health Services upon completion in early 2004. The departments to be consolidated are currently located in offices in Oakland and San Leandro.

The National Research Council (NRC) is planning the permanent home of the new National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) in Edmonton, Alberta. The $40-million facility will be created by a partnership between the Government of Canada through the NRC, the Government of Alberta, and the University of Alberta. The building will be built to a silver-level LEED certification as specified by the U.S.

The GSA, National Capital Region, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA, has awarded the mid-Atlantic division of Centex Construction the $55-million contract for Phase 2A of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Office Building at the Federal Research Center in White Oak, Silver Spring, Md. The largest facility planned for the FDA campus, the six-story, 550,000-sf CDER will house laboratories, research facilities, and office space.

The U.S. Department of State's Overseas Buildings Operations Bureau awarded San Antonio-based The H.B. Zachry Co. the $50.6-million contract to design and build the new United States Embassy in Cambodia. Sited in Phnom Penh, the 128,000-sf compound is expected to begin construction in June 2003 and reach completion in January 2006. The H.B. Zachary Co., which participated in the design and construction of the U.S.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will award the Atlanta CDC $250-million in federal funds to perform needed facility renovations. The CDC branch at Colorado's Ft. Collins will receive $18-million for improvements. The CDC's ten year master building plan includes facility and equipment improvements totalling approximately $1.5-billion.

The Austin office of White Construction Co. has been awarded the $20-million contract to build a new detention center in Lea County, New Mexico. Construction of the 432-bed center is expected to begin in June 2003 with completion in June 2004.

DynCorp, the EPA's new technology contractor, has leased 68,000 sf in Highwoods Properties' Research Commons development in Research Triangle Park.

The U.S. General Services Administration has selected the Los Angeles office of New York-based architectural firm Richard Meier & Partners to design the new 60,000-sf federal courthouse in downtown San Diego. The facility is projected to reach completion in fall 2009.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is constructing the Institute of Soldier Nanotechnologies on its Cambridge campus. The facility is funded by a $50-million grant from the U.S. Army.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is planning to replace its existing East Point facility with a new 350,000-sf regional records center in Morrow, Ga. Annexes in Palmetto and Birmingham, Ala., will also be consolidated with the new facility. NARA is the federal agency that provides records storage, management, and archival genealogical reference services to federal agencies and the public. NARA currently operates 15 records center facilities nationwide.

Federal IT and security contractor NCI Information Systems has relocated its corporate headquarters from Tysons Corner to Reston, Va. The company leased 76,716 sf of office space at Plaza America, a 1.2 million-sf development that is nearly 50% leased by government-related tenants. NCI relocated to accommodate growth and increase customer and employee convenience.

The D.C. Housing Authority has awarded Hensel-Phelps Construction the design-build contract to construct the Youth Services Center in Washington. The 120,000-sf detention facility will be constructed with HOK as lead designer. The project is slated for completion in May 2004.

The Alameda County General Services Agency has signed a 30-year lease for the planned Thomas L. Berkeley Square development in Oakland. The 101,000-sf facility will serve as the Social Services Agency's administrative headquarters and will consolidate divisions currently dispersed across Oakland. The North Alameda County Self Sufficiency Center, a welfare job training program, will also be housed in the building.

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Department broke ground in mid-January 2003 on a biosafety lab that will enable the department to test for and detect potential bio-terrorist materials to protect both state residents and their food supply.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will occupy a 140,000-sf facility under construction in the Redland Tech Center in Rockville. Slated for completion in March of 2003, the facility includes a 670-car surface parking lot. Developer The Stephen A. Goldberg Co. plans to build two more facilities at the Redmond Tech Center for a total of 500,000 sf. The project is sited on 27 acres of forest preserve, of which the buildings occupy 13 acres.