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.

Redmond, Wa.-based Microsoft has opened the new 26,000-sf Silicon Valley Technology Center in Mountain View, Ca., a 10-lab facility enabling businesses to try the company's suite of enterprise software prior to purchasing.  

Newark-based Horizon Blue Cross  Blue Shield has leased 87,460 sf in Mount Laurel for consolidation and expansion of its presence  in South Jersey. Employee relocation and closure of the Philadelphia and Evesham offices were scheduled for late June. The facility, which will employ more than 400 people, will act as a secondary headquarters for the state's largest health insurer. Horizon has signed a 15-year lease for the $11 million office, built by Boston-based Leggat McCall Properties.

San Jose-based developer U.S. Dataport is planning a 2,000,000-sf, $1.4-billion Internet data center campus at a 188-acre site in Gainesville, Va. The 188-acre site is slated to open in early 2002.

A new 32,000-sf veterinary care facility costing between $5 million and $10 million will be built at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. The building will house office, institutional and veterinary care, and animal handling and treatment spaces.