Industry News

Eli Lilly & Co. is prepared to invest as much as $1 billion in its planned synthetic insulin and drug manufacturing plant in Virginia. The pharmaceutical giant will employ up to 700 people at the new 600,000-sf Prince William County plant.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) are seeking approximately 200,000 sf, housed together in preferably a historic building. This arrangement, pending congressional approval, is leading the NEA and NEH to consider space in the Woodward & Lothrop project, a 550,000-sf former department store. The "Woodies" building, built in phases from 1902 to 1926, could be ready for move-in a year following the signing of a pre-lease.

Cuyamaca College in El Cajon has completed its new 10,500-sf, $3.5-million child development center. Designed by San Diego-based NTD Architects, the facility was built by La Mesa, Calif., contractor Kvaas Construction Co.

New liberal arts institution Southern Catholic College contracted the HOK Planning Group, a landscape architectural and urban design firm based in Atlanta, to develop the master plan for a mixed-use pedestrian-oriented campus. A subsidiary of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum Inc. of St.

Eli Lilly decided in May to locate its $425-million insulin manufacturing facility at the 124-acre Innovation@ Prince William business park in northern Virginia. The Innovation is focused on attracting biotechnology, bioinformatics, and forensic bioscience companies. The Eli Lily project, which will formulate, fill and package all forms of Humalog and Humulin insulin, is the company's first U.S. manufacturing plant outside Indiana. The plant will bring over 700 high-tech jobs to the region when it is fully operational in 2007.