Industry News

The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. has completed the $24-million renovation of the 101-year-old Carnegie Library building to create the City Museum. The facility opened as a 60,000-sf museum on May 15, 2003. The renovation project included a 150-seat theater, extra museum space and offices for the historical society, as well as updated HVAC, wiring, and adaptations for technology. The City Museum now accommodates 12,000 sf of exhibit galleries, an archeology lab, an education center, a public research library, a café, and a museum store.

The University of California Berkeley has selected a development team led by Allen & O’Hara of Memphis to develop the 135-million, 26-acre University Village project in Albany. The project includes 30 units of housing for junior faculty and 587 units of rental housing for 1,034 graduate students.

Florida photomask maker Photronics will open a new $300-million fabrication center in Shanghai, China. The company also occupies facilities in Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

New York Life Insurance Co. will locate its new $140-million Forsyth County data center in The Meadows 300, a 95,000-sf BellSouth Entertainment unit facility. Slated to begin operations by year-end 2003, the data center will store and handle customer files.

Kaiser Permanente will begin construction of a 637,000-sf medical center on its Antioch campus in 2004. The project will include a 297,000-sf medical office and a 340,000-sf, 150-bed hospital. The medical center is slated to open in 2007, pending regulatory approval. Kaiser is also building a 50,000-sf medical center in Tracy, Calif. expected to reach completion in spring 2005.