Industry News

NASA/Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., has awarded the University of California, Santa Cruz a $330 million, ten-year contract to manage the development of a University Affiliated Research Center. As the first such development established by the space agency, the center will focus on interdisciplinary research in information technology, astrobiology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. NASA is also creating a 200-acre research and education park at Moffett Federal Airfield.

The International Center for Advancement of Nursing will locate its headquarters in a former state office building in Albany, N.Y recently purchased by Renaissance Corp. for $3.9 million. Renaissance Corp. will spend an additional $8-million on building renovations. Of the 165,000-sf facility, 52,000 sf will continue to be leased to the state for three more years. Biomedical research companies will also occupy the space at the center.

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.