Industry News

Korean auto parts manufacturer Mando Corp. is expanding its 150,000-sf Opelika, Ala., facility to 325,000 sf. The project contractor is Jacksonville, Fla.-base Pattillo Construction Company, the contractor who built the original facility in 2004. Slated for completion in spring 2006, the expansion will create 170 new jobs.

Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG has renovated the historic 1927 New England Candy Co. factory in Cambridge to create a 500,000-sf biomedical research facility. The renovated building now houses labs, offices, breakout rooms, a 180-seat auditorium, two conference rooms, and a six-story atrium. Designed to foster interaction and collaboration, the labs and offices are co-located, with breakout rooms and kitchens on the perimeter of each floor. The building features state-of-the-art power, water, air handling, communications, and security systems.

The Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, Calif., is planning a $100-million expansion project. Doubling its existing space, the institute plans to add three buildings to its campus over the next ten years for a total footprint of 360,000 sf. Upon completion, the Buck Institute for Age Research will house 45 laboratories and a staff of 550 researchers.  

City of Hope National Medical Center opened the $200-million Helford Clinical Research Hospital in Duarte, Calif., on July 15, 2005. Designed by NBBJ, the 347,000-sf, 144-bed facility will advance research in cancer and other life threatening diseases and will house one of the nation's largest hematopoietic cell transplantation programs.

The University of Florida is developing the 23,500-gsf Center of Excellence for Regenerative Heath Biotechnology in Alachua County, Fla. Sited 13 miles from the University's Gainesville campus in the Sid Martin Biotechnology Development Incubator in the Progress Corporate Park, the facility will house up to 11,080 sf of cleanrooms and support space.