Work Underway on $202.7M FDA Building Outside Washington, DC

September 7, 2010
By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

The development of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research has gotten underway at the federal government’s 660-acre White Oak Federal Research Center campus in Silver Spring, Maryland, approximately 15 miles north of Washington, DC. The $202.7 million project is part of the General Services Administration’s nearly $1.2 billion FDA headquarters consolidation endeavor.

The multi-phase, 5.4 million-square-foot consolidation project, covering a 130-acre segment of White Oak, will ultimately encompass approximately 20 new buildings and two renovated historic buildings featuring office and lab space, as well as parking facilities to accommodate nearly 6,000 vehicles. The initial three phases of the project involved the 112,000-square-foot Center for Drug Evaluation and Research lab; a CDER office building totaling 551,000 square feet and another totaling 330,000 square feet; and a 530,300 square-foot office and lab facility for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

Clark Construction is overseeing the building of the office and laboratory facility, which marks the fourth phase of the consolidation. CBER’s new home, like every structure in the FDA compound and every newly developed government structure, will qualify for LEED Silver Certification, at minimum. Clark is on track to complete the facility in 2013.

Government construction projects have barely missed a beat during the economic downturn. Over the last few months alone, The Korte Company was tapped to lead design-build responsibilities for a $120 million temporary lodging facility at Fort Lee in Richmond, Virginia, and USAA Real Estate Company and joint venture partner LCOR broke ground on a $131 million 362,000-square-foot office build-to-suit project in North Bethesda, Maryland, for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Additionally, ground broke on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ 1.5 million-square-foot replacement medical center in New Orleans.