Industry News

The General Services Administration's National Capital Region has selected architectural/engineering firm HNTB to design the $81.7-million renovation of the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building in Washington.

Aviation Institute of Maintenance has relocated to a $2-million, 16,000-sf facility constructed for the school by Turner Construction at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport.  Formerly known as the Quaker City Institute of Aviation, the school moved to its new location from South Philadelphia.

National Surgical Hospitals (NSH) opened the 30-bed Spine Hospital of South Texas and an accompanying medical office building in September. A joint venture of NSH and approximately 20 local physicians, the $30-million Stone Oak medical development will specialize in surgical spine care and pain management. The facility is designed to eventually expand to 40 rooms.

Idec Pharmaceuticals broke ground in October 2002 on its new five-building corporate headquarters and laboratory facility in San Diego's University Towne Center. San Diego-based Cisterra Partners is developer of the 42.6-acre project, with Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum of St.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has selected McCarthy to construct its new $70-million Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies in Troy, N.Y. Upon completion in 2004, the 218,000-sf building will house 60 faculty and more than 300 researchers and graduate students dedicated to researching the application of engineering and the physical and information sciences to the life sciences. Focus areas will include functional tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, integrated systems biology, bioinformatics, biocatalysis and metabolic engineering.