Industry News

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to move 800 employees into a new five-story building under construction at the Renaissance Corporate Center, a 250-acre office park in Gulph Mills. Liberty Property Trust is building the $40-million, 200,000-sf build-to-suit, which is located across the street from the company’s other research and office operations. GSK is also considering expansion at its Upper Merion, Penn., location.

Wyeth-Lederle, a subsidiary of Madison, N.J.-based American Home Products, completed a 40,000-sf addition to its Sanford facility in 2001 and has embarked on an additional 115,000-sf expansion. The $125-million project will increase employment from 540 to 800 workers, making Wyeth-Lederle the fourth-largest North Carolina biotech employer. The 345,000-sf facility will include manufacturing and R&D space. Wyeth-Lederle currently owns 215 acres in Sanford.

Trinity College has completed a $20 million renovation of its athletic facility including the Trinity Center for Women and Girls in Sport, a NCAA regulation playing field, and a 1,600-seat basketball arena. Trinity's athletic complex will be considered as a practice facility for the proposed Washington 2012 Olympics. Trinity College is a women's university with an enrollment of 1,500 students.

U.S. Dataport, based in San Jose, Calif., has abandoned plans to build a 3,750,000-sf, $1.4-billion data center in Gainesville in favor of a general high-tech business park housing office and light manufacturing space for products such as telecom gear or computer chips. The 192-acre site will also provide 400,000 sf of data center space, a $300 million independent power plant, and a Virginia Railway Express station for transporting the potential 3,000 workers to the business park.

Media and Technology Charter High School (MATCH) selected HMFH Architects Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., to design its new Boston campus--a 20,000-sf building. The general contractor for the project is A.J. Martini Inc.