Industry News

Emergent BioSolutions dedicated its 50,000-sf vaccine production plant in Lansing, Mich., on July 21, 2006. The $75-million, three-story facility will enable the company to expand production capacity for its anthrax vaccine, BioThrax®, as well as providing space for future immunobiotics development. Construction on the plant began in February 2006 and is expected to reach completion in early 2007, with FDA certification slated for 2008. The 24/7/365 facility will accommodate 275 employees. Emergent BioSolutions is part of BioPort Corporation.

Ohio State University (OSU) is constructing the $151-million Biomedical Research Tower on its Columbus campus. The 400,000-sf, 14-story building will be the largest research facility on campus with 180,000 sf of laboratory space. Slated for completion in late fall of 2006, the tower will house labs for biomedical research, core labs for shared use, faculty and administrative offices, a 250-seat auditorium, seminar rooms, and a cafe.

West Chester Medical Center broke ground in July 2006 on its new community hospital in West Chester, Mass. The first $207-million phase includes a 370,000-sf, 160-bed hospital with surgical, outpatient, emergency, and imaging services, as well as a 90,000-sf medical office building. Both facilities are slated for completion in late 2008. The second phase includes expansion of the hospital to 300 beds and construction of a second medical office building and parking garage. The third phase would involve construction of an additional patient tower.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has selected Cannon Design and Westlake Reed Leskosky to design a new eight-story patient tower for the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The tower will be located on the center’s Wade Park campus. The 268,000-sf facility will house the hospital’s comprehensive rehabilitation center, nursing and home care department, mental health department, and a number of other patient care programs. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2007 and reach completion in late 2009.

The University of Puget Sound will dedicate Harned Hall, a $25-million science laboratory building, in Tacoma, Wa. on Sept. 29. 2006. The 51,000-sf facility is the anchor of the University's new $63-million science complex and was constructed to meet LEED™ Silver standards. Designed to foster interaction among faculty and students as well as collaboration between disciplines, the building includes laboratory spaces for biology, chemistry, environmental science, geology, and physics.