Industry News

Sara Lee Corp. has selected Little & Associates of Charlotte, N.C., to provide architectural, land planning, and engineering services for an expansion of the manufacturer's Oak Summit campus. The $35-million expansion includes the addition of two 200,000-sf facilities on either side of Sara Lee's existing 255,000-sf building in Winston-Salem, which also was designed by Little. Construction is expected to begin in late summer of 2002 and reach completion in fall of 2003.

The fourth floor of EmeryStation North is being converted by Wareham Development into laboratory facilities where 30,000 sf of the Emeryville building will house flexible lab and office space. Initial construction costs for the facility ranged from $200 to $250 per sf, with an additional $150 to $250 for conversion to lab space. The conversion began in January 2002 and is slated for completion at the end of the summer.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has selected Boston-based Tishman Construction Corp. to provide construction quality/cost management services for the 713,000-sf Ray and Maria Stata Center. The academic complex, designed by Frank O. Gehry, is located on 2.8 acres of MIT's main campus. 

KIO Networks is planning a collocation data center in Mexico City. Designed by EYP Mission Critical Facilities, a firm with offices in Boston, the facility will contain data storage equipment for multiple companies. The data center will be housed in a 30,000-sf former warehouse.

The Minute Maid Co., an operating division of The Coca-Cola Co. of Atlanta, is planning to build a noncarbonated beverage production plant in Auburndale.  The 620,000-sf facility will cost $130-million for construction and equipment. In two weeks, site preparation will begin, with groundbreaking following in another two weeks. The plant, which will employ approximately 300 workers, is slated to be operational in March 2003.