Research and Development

The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) is constructing its 450,000-sf headquarters in Hampton, Va. The NIA is a partnership of six universities with NASA, including Georgia Tech, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the University of Virginia, the University of Maryland, North Carolina State University, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The NIA will offer masters and doctorate degrees and will enable NASA to develop cost-effective and innovative technologies in all aerospace areas and in atmospheric science.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) broke ground on its 281-acre research campus at Janelia Farm in Northern Virginia on May 5. The $500 million development will accommodate over 300 scientists and staff and is slated to reach completion in 2005. The project’s first 650,000-sf phase includes lab, research, housing, conference, and meeting space. The project manager for the first phase of construction is Jacobs Facilities, a subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering of Arlington, Va. HHMI is based in Chevy Chase, Md.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has selected the New England Division of Skanska USA Building as program manager for the redevelopment of the Quissett Campus in Woods Hole, Mass. The project includes a new biogeochemistry laboratory building, a marine research laboratory facility, upgrades to the campus central plant, and alterations to the process and septic systems for the campus. The laboratory buildings are scheduled to begin construction in late 2003, pending regulatory approval.

Merck is developing a 300,000-sf research center in Boston slated for completion in 2004. Merck is also adding 35,000 sf to its 128,000-sf  San Diego facility.

Battelle, an Ohio-based technology research company, opened its $20-million Harford County research facility in early March 2003. Sited on 89 acres at the Higher Education and Applied Technology (HEAT) Center in Aberdeen, Ohio, the facility will accommodate over 200 engineers, scientists and technicians in laboratories dedicated to chemical, biological, and technology R&D.

The University of Pittsburgh is creating the John A. Swanson Center for Micro and Nano Systems with a gift of $1.4-million from the center's namesake. The center will be housed in the recently established four-laboratory John A. Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence, which will work in collaboration with the new center. The Center for Micro and Nano Systems will focus on applied research, giving companies and researchers access to technology, equipment and services for design, modeling and simulation, fabrication and systems integration.

The former Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Research Triangle Park, known as "The Fortress", is being redesigned as the Triangle Life Science Center. The facility, sited on 16 acres, was purchased by Triangle Life Science for $13.15-million in May 2002. Project architect O'Brien/Atkins Associates plans to adapt the facility to accommodate eight to ten tenants; occupancy is expected for late 2003 or early 2004.

The Regional Industrial Development Corp. of Southwestern Pennsylvania will renovate an 80,000-sf facility in Pittsburgh to for potential robotics tenants. Located in the state-designated Lawrenceville enterprise zone, the facility is sited at One Chocolate Square with desirable proximity to the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute cluster. The two-story facility will house up to 11 tenants and create up to 100 jobs.

The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is constructing the 93,000-sf Automotive Research Building at SwRI's San Antonio campus. Housing SwRI's 600-employee Automotive Products and Emissions Research Division, the facility will feature state-of-the-art facilities for the division's fleet and field evaluations using full-scale vehicles.

BioLab, a Decatur-based manufacturer of water treatment products, will relocate to 89,000 sf of office space in Gwinnett County's Hillside III at Huntcrest development in spring of 2003. Terms of the lease with Duke Realty Corp. include the construction of an adjacent 50,000-sf build-to-suit research facility for BioLab slated for completion in March 2004. BioLab is a subsidiary of Indiana-based Great Lakes Chemical Corp.

PPD, a Wilmington-based pharmaceutical and biotech discovery and development firm, has leased an additional 25,000-sf in Morrisville. PPD currently occupies four buildings totaling 283,000-sf at its expanding Triangle campus.

North Carolina Central University in Durham is considering an expansion of its 40,000-sf Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute. An additional facility, a mirror image of the existing building, would be sited on an adjacent parking lot. The expansion would enable the University to double its 32-member biotech staff.

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has topped out its new $221.9-million George and Cynthia Mitchell Basic Sciences Research Building. Slated for completion and initial occupancy in November, the 18-story, 500,000-sf facility is expected to be fully operational in June 2004. Located in Houston's Texas Medical Center, the building will house six floors of research laboratories, an auditorium, conference facilities, small-animal vivariums, and classrooms for the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.

The U.S.

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory has received approval from the federal government to build a laboratory for the study of potential biological weapons in Livermore, Calif. Rated Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3), the lab will enable research in the detection of potential threats including anthrax, botulism, and other diseases. In planning the facility, the National Nuclear Security Administration reviewed 92 public comments and, as a result, incorporated 33 changes to the planned facility.