Biotechnology

South San Francisco-based Genentech will construct a $250-million, 150,000-sf therapeutics filling and packaging facility on a 100-acre site in Hillsboro, Ore. The project will break ground in mid-2006 and reach completion by 2008; with U.S. FDA licensing, operations will commence by 2010. Genentech is also expanding its existing 427,000-sf Vacaville, Calif., manufacturing facility with the addition of 380,000 sf of production and fermentation space.

Biotech giant Amgen will expand its South San Francisco campus with the addition of 500,000 sf of R&D space over the next three years. The first 92,000-sf facility is under construction; a second 92,000-sf structure will break ground in spring of 2006. The two buildings will house up to 700 employees total. Amgen also has an option to occupy three new adjacent buildings, yet to be constructed, with footprints of 100,000 sf each.

The University of Washington is nearing completion on construction of the new William H. Foege Building in Seattle. Providing a central home for the Department of Bioengineering, the 260,000-sf, $150-million facility broke ground in 2001.

Affymetrix, a maker of DNA array chi, has initiated construction on a new 110,584-sf manufacturing plant in West Sacramento, Calif. Accommodating production lines for the company's next generation of high-resolution GeneChips, the facility will double Affymetrix's output by the second half of 2007. Affymetrix's existing West Sacramento facility is 52,000 sf. Additionally, Affymetrix has purchased a 100,000-sf former semiconductor factory in Singapore which it will convert for production.

Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., will spend $1-billion to expand its operations in Cork, Ireland. The project will provide new process development, bulk manufacturing, and fill-and-finish facilities and is slated to break ground later in 2006. The facilities will be operational in 2009. Additionally, Amgen will construct a new development center in Uxbridge, U.K., and expand R&D operations in Cambridge, Mass., San Franscisco, Seattle, and Cambridge, U.K. Amgen will relocate its European headquarters to Zug, Switzerland, from Lucerne.

United Therapeutics will complete construction on its $32-million laboratory production facility in Silver Spring, Md., in spring of 2006. Sited adjacent to the company's existing biotech headquarters, the 50,000-sf, three-story building was developed and funded by Wachovia Development, who will lease it back to United Therapeutics through 2011. The facility, which broke ground in 2004, will accommodate drug development and pilot production.

San Rafael, Calif.-based Wareham Development will begin construction in June 2006 on the third phase of its EmeryStation complex in Emeryville, Calif. The 230,000-sf biotech project will house lab and office space in four-stories atop two levels of underground parking. The facility is slated for completion in summer of 2007.

New York City is planning to develop a commercial bioscience park in metropolitan New York. Sited on 4.7 acres on the Bellevue Hospital campus, the $700-million project will provide 870,000 sf of office and laboratory space. Dubbed the East River Science Park, the development will be the largest of its kind in the metropolitan area.

The University of California, Riverside is planning to construct a $65.5-million interdisciplinary science building to house programs in nanotechnology, materials science, and bioengineering. If approved by the University of California, the 134,000-sf facility will be comprised of two wings connected by a lobby. The four-story east wing will house lecture halls, computer labs, offices, and six classrooms, two of which can accommodate 300 people. The three-story west wing will house research laboratories.

The University of North Carolina is constructing a $35-million, 100,000-gsf facility to house its Bioinformatics Program at the Charlotte Research Institute campus. Intended to foster commercial biomedical and biotechnological partnerships, the building will house wet and dry labs and space for research and instruction.

North Carolina Central University (NCCU) will initiate construction in April 2006 on the Biomanufacturing Research Institute & Technology Enterprise Center on its Durham campus. Slated to open in 2007, the 65,000-sf facility will house research laboratories for biotechnology and biomanufacturing, lab support, classrooms, and an auditorium. The building will be sited adjacent to NCCU's new $36-million science complex.

Winston-Salem University dedicated the $12.1-million Atkinson Science Building in fall of 2005. Construction on the facility began in May 2003 with occupancy in spring of 2005. Housing approximately 51,000 sf of classroom and lab space, a 3,000-sf lecture hall, and a 1,600-sf cafe, the building includes dedicated laboratories for anatomy, chemistry, biotechnique, physiology, immunology, chromatography, physics, and organic chemistry.  

Roche Molecular Systems will break ground on a 138,000-sf research facility in Pleasanton, Calif., in early 2006. Sited on 33 acres, the three-story building will accommodate 150 employees engaged in marketing, financial, and R&D operations when it reaches completion in mid-2007.

The University of Tennessee is developing the UT-Baptist Research Park in Memphis, Tenn. The 10-acre campus will consist of 1.2 million sf of bioscience laboratory, education, research, and incubator space.  Baptist Memorial Health Care donated its property in the Memphis Medical District to create the campus. A 924,000-sf building will be imploded to enable new construction to begin in the second quarter of 2006. The project will be built in six phases over ten years.

Genzyme Corp. broke ground on a 177,000-sf research facility in Framingham, Mass., on October 5, 2005. The $124-million project consists of a six-story research building and a separate utilities facility that will provide services to it and three other Genzyme buildings in Framingham. The research facility will feature a six-story atrium with offices and labs designed to promote collaboration and interaction.