Industry News

The Food and Drug Administration’s new 350,000-sf Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition opened in October. The $62.5-million life sciences and chemistry lab facility consolidates three offices from the D.C. area, and accommodates approximately 950 employees. Planning and construction of the building took four years. The general contractor for the project is Tomkins.

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms’ scheduled ribbon-cutting ceremony was postponed by the General Services Administration pursuant to the terrorist attacks. The $104-million building is being designed by architect Moshe Safdie to accommodate approximately 1,100 employees in 295,000 sf. Parking spots for 200 are also included in the project.

AOL is planning a 400,000-sf expansion on its 100-acre Loudon County campus in Dulles, Virginia.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. plans to break ground in the Stone Oak area on a 3-story, 120,000-sf facility that will house approximately 300 employees--the company’s IT personnel and the accounting division. The 26-acre site could accommodate up to three 120,000-sf buildings and a five-level parking structure. Clear Channel is working with Carter-Burgess on a master plan for its new campus.

Acterna’s new 310,000-sf complex at Milestone Business Park in Germantown now has a second building under construction—a 130,000-sf structure designed by Hickok Warner Fox Architects to house office and manufacturing functions. Turner Construction is the builder. The first building is a 180,000-sf headquarters, which is also under construction. The 44-acre site provides space for 680,000 sf of office/industrial construction.