Industry News

The Securities and Exchange Commission will occupy a second building at Station Place in Washington. The lease of up to 360,000 sf, to deliver in 2005, will bring the government agency's facilities to over 1 million sf. Developed by Louis Dreyfus Properties Group, the headquarters project includes the previous lease of 650,000 sf slated for occupancy in mid-2004. SEC's total occupancy at the Station Place site will comprise 1.5-million-sf in three buildings.

Loudon Hospital in Leesburg, Va., is engaged in a 9,400-sf renovation of its Cornwall campus that will add a 16-bed emergency department. The $2.1-million project, slated for completion in mid-January 2003, is designed to give the hospital the flexibility to convert at least an additional 20 beds for emergency care in the event of a terrorist attack. The two-building Cornwall campus, originally constructed in 1912, may be renamed the Western Loudoun Medical Center.

Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in Annapolis, Md., is engaged in a $13-million expansion and renovation of its two-story Cancer Center. Project expenses involve $4-million in construction costs and $9-million for new technology, including NOVALIS, which utilizes imaging and targeting software to direct an energy beam delivery system for the destruction of tumors. The first floor of the center will open in January 2003. AAMC is also developing a new radiosurgery technology program.   

American BioFuels is relocating its production operations to Bakersfield, Calif., as part of a joint venture with Hondo Chemical of Bakersfield. American BioFuels, based in San Diego, will move from a building in Adelanto which processed 2.5 million gallons of biofuel annually to Hondo's Bakersfield site, which can process 50 million gallons annually. Initial production is aimed to reach 15 million gallons per year as market demand increases. Production at the Hondo facilities is slated to begin in February 2003.

The $17.9-million Regional Transportation Center is under construction in San Diego. Located on a 1.4-acre site in City Heights, the project will feature a 60,000-sf facility that will promote awareness of alternative fuel vehicles. The building is being funded via a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and by the San Diego Environmental Foundation, Ford Motor Co., Pearson Ford, California Air Resources Board, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the city of San Diego.