Industry News

Investigen, an Alameda, Calif.-based biotechnology company, plans to build a 27,000-sf facility on a 1.8-acre site at the North Shore Business Park in Hercules. Investigen expects to occupy 17,000 sf of the structure, subleasing the remaining 17,000 sf.

 MedImmune announced plans in May 2001 to build a huge campus-style 750,000-sf headquarters on 25 acres in Gaithersburg. Construction of phase one of the three-phase project will be a $70 million, 210,000-sf complex scheduled for completion in late 2002. The two-building structure will accommodate 60,000 sf of R&D space and 150,000 sf of administrative space. Amenities will include a covered parking lot, a cafeteria, and health club. Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum of St. Louis is designing the facility, which will be built by Quadrangle Development of Washington.

 Massachusetts General Hospital has renovated the historic 95,000-sf Charlestown Navy Yard Building 114, where the Navy built wooden boats, to provide 60,000 for biomedical research and research support activities; a 3,000-sf conference center; an 8,000-sf animal facility; and approximately 6,000-sf of public space. The primary occupant is the Center for Aging, Genetics, and Neurodegeration.

 The United States Institute of Peace will convert a parking lot near the Vietnam and Korean war memorials into a 75,000- to 100,000-sf facility to promote the use of peaceful means in the prevention, management, and resolution of international conflicts. The $31- to $35 million structure will house approximately 60 employees. It will accommodate both conference and research space as well as an exhibit area, and will provide 340 underground parking spaces, to be shared with the nearby Navy medical facility.

Rainin Instrument Co., based in Emeryville, Calif., is building a $15 million, 185,000-sf office and manufacturing facility on 7.8 acres in Oakland’s Hegenberger corridor, where biotech companies and their suppliers are beginning to congregate. The new facility is slated to open in October 2001, and will accommodate an addition of 60 employees to its existing 250-member staff. Rainin manufactures pipettes used by biology, biotechnology, and chemical companies. Architect for the project is Jordan Woodman Dobson.