Industry News

Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center broke ground on a new $9-million expansion project in Houston on May 11, 2004. Adding a 12-bed intensive care unit in a newly constructed 27,000-sf, two-story building, the facility will have the capacity for 24 additional medical/surgical beds on the second floor. Upon completion, Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center will have approximately 180 licensed beds and 22 ICU beds; the existing ten-bed ICU will remain operational. Over 300 parking spaces will be added.

A new Oklahoma City Federal Building was dedicated on May 3, 2004. Adjacent to the site where the Murrah building once stood, the facility’s security features include a steel-plated main entrance, shatterproof glass, and bollards, which are concrete plugs preventing vehicles from getting too close. The $33-million horseshoe-shaped building began construction in October 2001, with federal agencies beginning occupancy in December 2003.

Wake Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management is planning to open a 30,000-sf campus in Charlotte. The project will be sited in a new development owned by Wachovia Corp. and will include a 1,200-seat performing arts center.

The USDA is constructing a BSL-3AG replacement facility in Ames, Iowa. Designed to foster scientific collaboration in animal health and food safety among three separate federal government agencies, the facility is structured for concurrent research on multiple animal disease pathogens. Designed by Merrick & Company of Aurora, Colo., the $60-million facility and $20-million infrastructure upgrade will include 159,000 sf of total space, 52,000-sf of it in high containment areas.