Industry News

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.

St. Joseph Hospital broke ground in March 2004 on a new four-story, 240,000-sf patient care tower in Orange, Calif. Complete with a full basement and a 13,000-sf central plant, the tower will feature 150 patient beds and 14 operating rooms. Built in a confined space between two healthcare facilities with round the clock operations, the tower is slated for completion in April 2007. The project architect is NBBJ of Seattle, with McCarthy as project contractor.

Bank of New York Co. will soon begin construction of a 160,000-sf processing center in Nashville, Tenn. Housing backup operations supporting the processing of institutional and retail customer needs, the facility will be operational in September 2005.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Agilent Technologies has awarded a facilities management contract for all of its properties to Glendale-based Johnson Controls. The five-year contract includes mechanical, electrical, plumbing, operations and maintenance, project management, building fabric maintenance and general services for Agilent’s 17 million sf of owned and leased properties in thirty countries. Agilent manufactures scientific and analysis equipment.

Centennial Medical Center, a 118-bed hospital in Frisco, Texas, will open in June 2004. A subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare Corp., the hospital cost approximately $125 million in construction and other costs.