Industry News

The University of Chicago will begin construction in fall 2005 on the $31-million Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory, a germ research facility to be located at Argonne National Laboratory, which the University manages for the federal government.

Swansea University will complete construction of its Institute of Life Science in South West Wales by year-end 2006. The six-story biology-based research facility will house a business incubator to develop commercial applications of scientific discoveries. The building will also feature a very large research computer, Blue C, in a laboratory with an area called the Virtual Reality Cave.

Lyme Properties LLC broke ground on the 705,000-sf Center for Life Science Boston on July 26, 2005. Formerly called the Blackfan Research Center, the $250-million project is slated for completion in 2007. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will occupy 360,000 sf in the building. Lyme Properties will also construct a second facility, the Longwood North Research Center, on a half acre property adjacent to Beth Israel. Completion of the second facility is expected by mid-2007.

Mercer University is planning to construct a new $14-million science and engineering building on its Macon campus. Sited next to the Mercer School of Medicine, the two-story, 52,000-sf facility will house a 150-seat auditorium, a materials-testing system, laboratories, specialized classrooms, and small rooms for student design and research projects. The facility will enable Mercer to support the nearby Warner Robins Air Logistics Center with skilled engineers and scientists.

Auburn University will break ground in early fall of 2005 on a research park and incubator in Auburn, Ala. Designed by Sasaki Associates of Boston, the two-building development will provide incubator space for the commercialization of research discoveries in the first phase of construction. The first building is slated for occupancy in late 2006 with the second building reaching completion in early 2007.