Top Ten Life Science Capital Projects in University Sector Reach $3.4 Billion in 2009

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Parents across the country will be the first to say that universities and high finance go hand in hand. On the other hand, a host of architects, construction contractors and suppliers are sure to agree from an entirely different perspective as more than $3.4 billion in university-based life-science capital projects are scheduled to start construction throughout 2009. The financial impact is increasingly evident considering that this figure represents the cumulative total derived from only the top 10 projects for the year, working out to an ivy-league worthy average total investment value (TIV) of $340 million each.

Click on image at right for exclusive IIR information regarding the top ten university-based life science projects for 2009.

There has been a 20% increase in TIV for 2009 from the $2.8 billion of projects that began construction last year. Becoming lost in such numbers and statistics is easy, and the question arises of how one can trust such figures when so much is going on in today's economic mess. Things become even more confusing when legions of talking heads claim to somehow magically know the future of the world's economy based on secret formulas that no one quite understands. Undeniably, hard facts remain the best indicator, as real numbers do not lie. Underscoring the plausibility of these astronomical construction dollars, consider this: there is nothing theoretical about the top 10 projects from 2008, as all that made up the $2.8 billion TIV are currently under construction. This pattern of heavy investment is further supported when looking back to 2007. Using the same sub-set of the top 10 university-based projects, a solid $2.5 billion of projects broke ground that year.

Despite the plant layoffs and closings currently plaguing the industry as a whole, both the public and private sector continue to invest heavily in the construction of new research facilities. With the Obama administration being a huge proponent of the sciences, government dollars are expected to flow more freely. Whether the purpose is to cure, contain or diagnose a health threat, the list of top 10 university life-science projects exemplifies a decade-long trend that shows no sign of abatement, as North American universities and colleges invest hundreds of millions of dollars to beef up life-science research infrastructures.

Currently, the educational sector is easily outpacing private industry in terms of new construction investment. The projects are financed from a multitude of sources, which often results in a mixed bag of funding, blending private and public dollars. To be sure a number of buildings have been put on ice until the financial picture thaws, but the majority of these are expected to eventually be built. Meanwhile, it is hard to paint a gloomy picture when projects of this magnitude are actually moving forward.

Campuses in virtually every state and province are in the midst of an unprecedented building boom. Beyond the top 10 projects, reported university-based construction projects scheduled to kick-off in 2009 total $8.6 billion in TIV, spread across 127 projects. These projects range from several million dollars being invested to update or create wet lab space in an existing building to pricey, monolithic research centers encompassing multiple buildings and filled with a vast array of state-of-the-art equipment. Construction and equipment costs can approach or even top $1,000 per square foot for sections of these new structures.

All of the referenced projects are currently forecast to begin construction during 2009 and are in various stages of planning and engineering. Massachusetts and North Carolina, both of which are already blessed with a strong life science infrastructure, each have two projects in the top 10. But the diversified mapping of the remaining sites underscores just how pervasive this sector is in terms of location. All project data discussed is drawn from a recent analysis of current active reports monitored within Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker.

Thus far, the two largest projects are sourced from the Ivy League. Weill Cornell Medical College stands alone at the top with $700 million being invested in the construction of a new biomedical translational research building. New York's Polshek Partnership handled the design, and Cornell has tapped VJ Associates (Hicksville, New York) to serve as construction manager for the 16-story, 500,000 square-foot LEED-certified building. Construction is expected to kick off later this summer and be completely finished in 2014.

Princeton claims second place in the top 10 with its $450 million investment for the construction of a new neuroscience institute. Two buildings totaling 200,000 square feet, designed by New York's Davis Brody Bond, will be built by Barr and Barr Builders of Princeton, New Jersey. The project is expected to begin construction this fall and when complete in 2011, will house neuroscience and psychology research and teaching labs, along with share-use facilities, including brain-scan facilities.

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