Industry News

The 58,000-sf International Spy Museum is under construction in Washington in a building that formerly housed the Communist Party of the United States. The first of its kind in the nation, the two-floor espionage museum is being developed by The Malrite Co. and is due to open in spring of 2002. In addition to retail outlets and a spy-themed restaurant, the museum will house an Enigma machine, a pioneering World War II encryption device.

Biogen Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., plans to build a $350-million factory in Denmark to produce cell cultures for proteins and process the multiple sclerosis drug Avonex. Construction is slated to begin in 2002. 

Fort Worth, Texas-based Travelocity.com is opening a $2.27-million call center in Clinton, Va. Vacated by Nexus Communications, the facility will host employee training for the 500 available positions in June and open in July as Travelocity's third call center.  

Community Education Partners Inc. has purchased a 167,000-sf structure in Philadelphia to convert into a modern educational facility housing approximately 1500 students. Purchased for $3.5 million from yarn maker and spinner Coren-Indik Inc., the former manufacturing facility and adjacent land is slated for an $18-million to $20-million renovation.

The University of Pennsylvania Riverview Campus master plan has been completed by Cambridge, Mass.-based Tsoi/Kobus & Associates. The 20-acre Philadelphia Civic Center site will be transformed into a mixed-use healthcare and research center serving the needs of the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania.