Biomedical

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) opened its new $145-million College of Medicine Research Building in September 2005. Providing state-of-the-art laboratories for biomedical researchers, the 325,000-sf building represents a 15 percent increase in UIC's total research space. The eight-story facility will bring together researchers in the fields of neuroscience, cardiovascular disease, cancer, women's health, and immunology/transplantation.

The University of Virginia Health System broke ground in September 2005 on a $70.7-million medical building on its Charlottesville campus. The 102,000-sf facility will accommodate research on vaccine therapy, immunology, infectious diseases, cancer, and biotechnology. The building will house 240 scientists working in 60 research teams.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has completed construction of the 145,000-sf Child Health Institute in New Brunswick, N.J. Part of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of UMDNJ, the $72 million facility was developed in partnership with the New Brunswick Development Corporation. Designed by Princeton-based The Hillier Group, the comprehensive biomedical research center will accommodate research on the prevention, treatment and cure of childhood diseases with an emphasis on translational medicine.

Seoul National University began construction in August 2005 on the $25-billion won Hwang Woo-suk Research Center in Kwanak, Korea. The state-of-the-art medical bioengineering laboratory will accommodate research in primate studies, molecular biology, cell transplants, animal cloning, and stem cell research. Completion is expected in October 2006.

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is planning to construct a 730,000-sf office building in Houston. The $145-million facility will be called Faculty Center and will consolidate faculty, academic departmental space, and administrative functions currently housed in leased locations beyond the M.D. Anderson campus. The Research Medical Library will also be relocated to the new building. Construction will begin on the 21-story facility in November 2005 with occupancy expected in spring 2008.

Vanderbilt University initiated construction in August 2005 on the Institute of Imaging Sciences (VUIIS) in Nashville, Tenn. Slated for completion in summer of 2006, the $26.7-million project will house a new $7-million, 7-tesla magnet on the ground floor that will be shielded with 400 metric tons of steel. The magnet will be installed in December 2005 and will be used in medical research for near-term identification of therapies and disease cures.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is designing a new biomedical research building that will be sited on its Dallas campus. Slated to begin construction in May 2006, the $20 million facility will be built by St. Louis-based McCarthy. Perkins & Will is designing the four-story, 75,000-sf building which will have dedicated lab space on the first two floors and shell space on the top two floors. Completion is expected in November 2007.

The University of Chicago will begin construction in fall 2005 on the $31-million Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory, a germ research facility to be located at Argonne National Laboratory, which the University manages for the federal government.

Lyme Properties LLC broke ground on the 705,000-sf Center for Life Science Boston on July 26, 2005. Formerly called the Blackfan Research Center, the $250-million project is slated for completion in 2007. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will occupy 360,000 sf in the building. Lyme Properties will also construct a second facility, the Longwood North Research Center, on a half acre property adjacent to Beth Israel. Completion of the second facility is expected by mid-2007.

The University at Albany, the State University of New York, will open the $45 million Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics on its East Greenbush, N.Y., campus in September 2005. Construction on the cancer research center began in summer 2003. The facility will house researchers, industry partners, and state institutions studying the genetic aspects of cancer.

Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG has renovated the historic 1927 New England Candy Co. factory in Cambridge to create a 500,000-sf biomedical research facility. The renovated building now houses labs, offices, breakout rooms, a 180-seat auditorium, two conference rooms, and a six-story atrium. Designed to foster interaction and collaboration, the labs and offices are co-located, with breakout rooms and kitchens on the perimeter of each floor. The building features state-of-the-art power, water, air handling, communications, and security systems.

The Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, Calif., is planning a $100-million expansion project. Doubling its existing space, the institute plans to add three buildings to its campus over the next ten years for a total footprint of 360,000 sf. Upon completion, the Buck Institute for Age Research will house 45 laboratories and a staff of 550 researchers.  

The University of Kansas celebrated the topping off of the new 205,000-sf Biomedical Research Center in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 28, 2005. The $57.2-million, five story project will house facilities for studying proteins, fertility and reproductive studies, strokes and the aging process, and a liver center. The project team consists of Cannon Design, Turner Construction, and GLPM. The finished facility will have 211,500 sf of floor area.

Baylor Health Care System is constructing a 2,200-sf cell processing lab at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. The $2.4-million GMP facility will house custom cancer vaccine manufacturing operations for Baylor subsidiary ODC Therapies. Sited in the Zelig H. Lieberman Research Building, the facility will help ODC continue the clinical trial process for patients in late stage malignant melanoma. Baylor plans to develop a significantly larger facility that includes office and lab space for ODC and other companies within two years.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Blood Systems Research Institute has opened a $5-million research wing at its San Francisco facility. Housing immunology and virology labs, the project doubled laboratory space to 10,000 sf by converting an existing auditorium located at the former Irwin Memorial headquarters. The wing will accommodate research in high-impact blood-borne infections such as the West Nile, hepatitis C, and HIV viruses.