Industry News

Novartis AG will lease the entire 255,000-sf Technology Square building and 150,000 sf nearby to establish the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Europe's third-largest drug manufacturer, will invest $255-million in the worldwide research headquarters that will eventually house 900 scientists.

San Antonio-based pharmaceutical company Ilex Oncology expected to close in late May 2002 on a lease of 32,000 sf of newly refurbished Cambridge lab space. Ilex, currently leasing a smaller Boston space, plans to relocate in late fall to the Cambridge facility. The new lab is located in a 128,000-sf, four-story office building converted for lab use being finished by property owner and developer The Beal Cos. of Boston.

Clark University has selected Waltham-based Genesis Planners to design a new 30,000-sf field house and athletic fields at Granger Field in Worcester. Including locker rooms and training facilities for outdoor athletic teams and recreational sports, the $7.5-million facility features a 16,000-sf multipurpose practice space.

The General Services Administration has awarded lead contractor Dick Corp. of Pittsburgh and local joint partner Nibbi Bros. the $141.5-million contract to build a 600,000-sf office building in San Francisco.

The City Court of Atlanta has selected the Atlanta office of Turner Construction Company to build a new $55-million courthouse. Construction of the six-story, 200,000-sf facility is slated for completion in August 2003. The project is being developed by Atlanta Capital Courts Facilities, which will supervise program management and design-build responsibilities for the project.