Surf's Up For West Coast Region 2011 Life Science Construction

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As the economy slowly gains traction, the western United States' life science industry is enjoying a resurgence in bricks and mortar investment. To date, life science projects that are scheduled to kick off construction in 2011 in the West Coast region (California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska) have a combined total investment value of $2.4 billion. As expected, California leads with $1.5 billion in 2011 construction starts.

Click on image at right for a breakdown by state of planned life science project spending in 2011 in the U.S. West Coast region.

Gilead Science Incorporated (NASDAQ:GILD) (Foster City, California) is by far the leader in construction spending, with the company's estimated $600 million, 40-acre campus renovation and expansion project Foster City, California. The life science giant's expansion will include demolishing and replacing up to eight of Gilead's 17 buildings. Some of the new structures will be as high as 10 stories. The campus will expand from approximately 629,000 square feet to roughly 1.2 million square feet. Gilead is still in the strategic planning process for the project, but expects the demolition and construction to commence when all permitting and logistical issues are ironed out.

Universities are well represented in the life science construction boom. Oregon Health and Science University (Portland, Oregon) is seeking additional funding for the approximately $250 million Collaborative Life Sciences Complex expansion. The University of Alaska (Fairbanks, Alaska) is also seeking additional funding from the state legislature to move forward on a four-story, LEED-certified Life Sciences Laboratory and Classroom Facility Addition. Stanford University (Palo Alto, California) is planning a fall 2011 kickoff for its approximately 160,000-square-foot addition to its Science and Engineering Quad (SEQ-2).

The private sector is experiencing a resurgence as well. Agensys, a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma US Incorporated (Deerfield, Illinois) is gearing up for a first-quarter 2011 start of a new biopharmaceutical plant in Santa Monica, California. The $75 million project will be constructed on the 4-acre site of a former movie-production facility and will involve the erection of two LEED Gold-certified buildings with a total of approximately 170,000 square feet. One of the structures will be two stories and will have approximately 70,000 square feet of manufacturing space, while the other will be a three-story structure with approximately 100,000 square of research and development space.

The West Coast region, particularly California, has maintained a leadership role in life science innovations and research. The universities in this region have traditionally been breeding grounds for new ideas, supplying the life science field with well-qualified and imaginative staff. The physical expansions are a direct result of the needs of the life science industry and should only increase as the economy becomes more stabilized.

View Plant Profile - 1061661 1015175 1060577 1065518 3002214
View Project Report - 6005593 22001392 6004760 200005844 300008355

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.