Industry News

The City of Antioch has granted Kaiser Permanente approval to develop a new 6-building medical office campus in the summer of 2002. The facility is scheduled for completion in September 2003. The 78-acre complex could accommodate a hospital which, if approved, could begin construction in 2006. The campus will feature a $30 million, 60,500-sf medical outpatient center housing facilities for a staff of 300 and 38 physicians. Kaiser's existing building in Antioch is an outpatient medical office totalling 120,000 sf.    

Stanford University’s Clark Center for Biomedical Engineering and Science began construction in October 2001. The 504,000-sf, $146-million collaborative science building is scheduled for occupancy in 2003. The facility provides generic space for interdisciplinary projects and will accommodate approximately 50 faculty.

United States Can Co. of Illinois is consolidating two Georgia facilities into a new 185,000-sf plastics manufacturing facility in the Shenandoah Industrial Park in Newnan, Ga. Developed by First Fulton Associates, the building will be a prototype for other U.S. Can facilities nationwide.  

Laminate flooring manufacturer Pergo AB is planning to add 33,000-sf to its Garner manufacturing plant. Slated for completion in December 2001, the $27-million expansion includes relocation of Pergo's Durham distribution center to an adjacent 180,000-sf facility at the Garner site. Pergo, formerly Perstorp Flooring Inc., is based in Sweden with U.S. headquarters in Raleigh, N.C.  Pergo currently employs 108 workers at its Garner production facility which opened in 1996.  

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to open in December 2001. Designed by architect Rafael Vinoly, the $265-million facility features the 2,500-seat cello-shaped Verizon Hall with acoustics by Artec, Inc.  Housing 650 seats and a turntable stage, the Perelman Theater contains an all-weather indoor plaza for free performances, studio and rehearsal space, a cafe and restaurant, and a gift shop.