Industry News

Lightconnect Inc., a fiber optic components design firm, has opened a 5,000-sf manufacturing and testing facility adjacent to its headquarters in Newark. At full capacity the new facility will employ up to 300 people and produce 10,000 variable optical attenuators and 300 dynamic gain equalizers each month. Lightconnect's existing headquarters is focussed on research and development, with limited manufacturing space. 

Design and construction of the Southeastern Archives Center, a joint federal and Georgia State Archives research complex with online access, is pending funding approval by the Senate. The $30.5 million project would be located in the Gateway Village Complex in Morrow next to Clayton College and State University. $14 million was previously approved for the facility The existing federal archives at Eagle Point will be relocated to the new center upon completion.

New York-based Deloitte Consulting has acquired 72,618 sf of new space in the Marquis Two in downtown Atlanta, owned by Colonnade Properties LLC. Although Deloitte was seeking a new office environment, the expansion and reconfiguration of their existing 54,000-sf space was achieved by putting support workstations along the windows and offices in the building's center. Extensive use of interior glass facilitates the use of natural light.

Duke Energy Corp. is planning to develop one of Charlotte's tallest office towers, possibly standing over 40 floors. Costing up to $200 million and encompassing up to 1,000,000 sf, the uptown tower may be formally announced in August. Additional tenants may lease a significant amount of square footage in the building.

Bechtel Power has occupied a fifth structure at the Westview Corporate Campus in Frederick, Md. Now totalling 450,000 sf, Bechtel Power's international headquarters has grown with the addition of the new 123,000-sf building housing training, demo and research labs and offices. Bechtel is based in San Francisco.