Industry News

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals is planning a new 16-researcher R&D lab for pharmaceutical synthesis in Richmond's Virginia Biotechnology Research Park. Over the next five years, Boehringer plans to invest $2.5 million in the facility. Based in Germany, Boehringer's U.S. headquarters are in Connecticut.

The University of California-Davis, the world leader in wine science, will be spending $25 million of a $35 million grant to build the new Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. Replacing buildings 50 years old, the institute will house classrooms, food processing and winery buildings. The remaining $10 million will fund a theater complex already under construction, to be named the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. The center is slated for completion in October 2002.

Abgenix Inc. has awarded a biotech manufacturing plant design contract to Clark Richardson & Biskup Consulting Engineers Inc., working with Dowler-Gruman Architects on the project team. An existing shell building will house a 100,000-sf fit-out.  

San Antonio-based chain H-E-B Grocery Co. is planning a 13,500-sf safety and food quality testing facility in Northeast San Antonio. Replacing 5,400 sf of quality assurance lab space, the $3.5 million building will house H-E-B's environmental affairs department which ensures compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.

Crozer-Keystone Health Systems is expanding three Delaware County hospitals over the next three years as part of a $47 million construction and renovation project. At Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland a 32,000-sf emergency department expansion will triple existing emergency facilities, which include the only Level II trauma center in Delaware County. The new facilities will house 41 treatment rooms featuring a minor ailment fast-track area and a pediatric waiting room.