EPA Relocation Prompts Renovation

The Environmental Protection Agency's new 1.2 million-sf campus will be ready for occupancy in summer 2002. The largest facility ever built for the EPA, the campus can house 2,200 employees and 10,000 research animals, and will include 400 individual labs, a cafeteria, a conference center and a child-care center.  The National Computer Center, which contains the agency's nationwide data, has already moved to the new headquarters. Clearview Investments, based in Arlington, Texas, intends purchase the vacated 30-year old "EPA fortress" in Research Triangle Park and transform it into biotech, lab, and incubator space. Clearview is prepared to invest approximately $40 million to remodel the building--the Environmental Research Center--one of the most notable RTP landmarks. The 400,000-sf, nine-building complex currently houses conference rooms, offices, animal research facilities and laboratories totalling 160,000 sf. Potential tenants include companies involved in bioinformatics, biotech, healthcare, or information technology.