Industry News

The Boeing Co. will open its new 100,000-sf virtual war simulation center in St. Louis in 2004. The $20 million facility will enable customers to experience how different programs work together, a process that could create more integrated systems business for Boeing. The center will employ 75 workers when it opens, with plans to grow to 150 employees within three or four years.

St. Luke’s Medical Center is constructing a new 435,000-sf heart tower on its 17-acre Milwaukee campus. Due to space restrictions, the tower will be constructed as an elevated facility over an existing parking structure. Designed by Kahler Slater of Milwaukee, the facility will house 270 beds; 192 beds will accommodate surgical patients and 78 beds will accommodate intensive care patients. All rooms will be private.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute is planning a $25 million, 75,000-sf addition to its existing 245,000-sf headquarters in Chevy Chase, Md.

Kaiser Permanente is planning to construct up to 900,000 sf as it rebuilds its 16-acre campus in Redwood City, Calif. Tripling the medical square footage on the site, the project will include four medical centers, a new hospital, and up to four parking lots. The lead architect is Gordon Chong of San Francisco. Construction may begin on one of the four medical office facilities in early 2004.

KBI BioPharma, a division of Kinetic Biosystems of Atlanta, will upfit 300,000 sf in four buildings recently purchased in Teer Technical Park in Durham. Formerly occupied by Mitsubishi's semiconductor manufacturing operations, the facility currently houses three cleanrooms ranging in size from 6,906 sf to 25,240 sf. The first of the three planned renovation phases is expected to take nine months and cost $45 million. The lead architect is O'Brien/Atkins Associates of Durham.