Research and Development

Site preparation is under way by Sundt Construction for SkySong, Arizona State University (ASU) Scottsdale's 34-acre Innovation Center. Higgins Development Parters of Chicago along with Peoria, Ill.-based The Plaza Cos. are developing the $300-million high-tech research park. The two-building first phase will provide over 300,000 sf for office and retail space, of which ASU will occupy 80,000 sf. The scheduled opening of phase one is early 2007.

The Science Center, a West Philadelphia business incubator providing facilities and services for early-stage life science and technology companies, plans to double its capacity with a 1.8-million-sf expansion program. Wexford Science & Technology, LLC has been selected as the development partner for Phase I of the project. The architect is Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership in conjunction with Ueland, Junker, McCauley, Nicholson of Philadelphia.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory dedicated the $85 million Molecular Foundry in Berkeley, Calif. on March 24, 2006. Construction began on the six-story, 95,000-sf nanotechnology center in December of 2003. Designed by the architectural firm SmithGroup, the facility is one of five U.S. Department of Energy nanotechnology research centers.

Pfizer has selected Gilbane Building Company in a joint venture with Tarlton Corporation as the Construction Manager for Pfizer's new research facility in Chesterfield, Mo. The four-story, 330,000-sf facility is part of a nearly $200-million expansion of Pfizer's existing four-building site. Gilbane's Chicago office and Tarlton's St. Louis office will oversee the project with the design team of Kling Architects.

The University of South Florida (USF) will break ground in spring of 2006 on the 70,000-sf Center for Advanced Learning and Simulation at the University Research Park in Tampa. Expected to cost between $60-million and $70-million, the center will house laboratories for physician skill training, medical product development, and a virtual hospital and simulation center. The facility will bring R&D and surgical skills training together under one roof. Completion is expected in late summer to late fall of 2007.

The University of North Carolina has selected Turner Construction to build the 311,000-sf Core Laboratory Building at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis. Financed by David Murdock and designed by Narmour Wright Creech Architecture, the five-story facility will be the first structure in a planned 350-acre biotech campus. Ground will be broken on the project in late February 2006 with completion expected in late 2007.

Stony Brook University is planning to develop a 246-acre research and development park on a site straddling Stony Brook and St. James, N.Y. Groundbreaking for a 100,000-sf Center of Excellence for Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) is expected in spring of 2006.

Stanford University will initiate $75 million in construction work to accommodate a new laser that will be housed at the Linear Accelerator Center in Palo Alto, Calif. The project team of the San Jose office of Turner Construction and engineers Hatch Mott MacDonald are expected to begin work in early 2006. The laser is slated for operational completion in early spring 2009. The cost of new equipment and modifications to existing equipment needed to build the laser itself is over $300 million.

The University of Kentucky will complete the $17-million Center for Pharmaceutical Science and Technology on the 735-acre Coldstream Research Campus in Lexington in February of 2006. The center is one of two in the nation approved by the FDA to manufacture small drug batches for human trials. Additionally, private developer Kale Roscoe of Michigan is planning to construct two five-story buildings housing offices and labs at the research park.

Construction began in early July 2005 on a new $6.6-million facility for New Mexico's Sevilleta Research and Education Center.

Mercer University is planning to construct a new $14-million science and engineering building on its Macon campus. Sited next to the Mercer School of Medicine, the two-story, 52,000-sf facility will house a 150-seat auditorium, a materials-testing system, laboratories, specialized classrooms, and small rooms for student design and research projects. The facility will enable Mercer to support the nearby Warner Robins Air Logistics Center with skilled engineers and scientists.

Northwest Missouri State University (NMSU) is developing the 140,000-sf Missouri Center of Excellence for Plant Biologics in Maryville, Mo. The $30-million on-campus facility will house industry tenants as well as academic researchers. The facility is comprised of two major centers, the Graduate Applied Research Center and the Plant Biologics Incubator.

The University of Cambridge is constructing the Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE) in Cambridge, UK. Designed by TP Bennett of London, the new facility will provide over 4,800 square-meters of research and laboratory space for the University's Department of Engineering's Electrical Division. Housing a 760-square-meter cleanroom and a central atrium, the center will be built by Marriott Construction.

Team Specialty Products (TSP), a developer and manufacturer of mechanical and electical products for government research and development clients, broke ground in June, 2005 on a 22,000-sf addition to its existing 15,000-sf facility in Albuquerque. Located in the Sandia Science & Technology Park near Kirtland Air Force Base, the expansion will enable TSP to expand its work force from 64 to 90 employees. The addition was designed by architect Alexander Harris, with Gerald Martin as general contractor.

Schering-Plough Corp. is consolidating biopharma research operations in Palo Alto, Calif. Subsidiary Canji Inc. will be relocated to merge with Schering-Plough's DNAX Research Institute to create an integrated company called Schering-Plough Biopharma. The 68,000-sf facility, where DNAX is located, will be fully operational by the third quarter of 2005. Schering-Plough Biopharma will focus primarily on biologics research including monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins.