Construction of 551,000-SF FDA Drug Research Building Finishes

WHITE OAK, MD-Construction is completed on the US Food and Drug Administration’s new Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Office Building. Located at the Federal Research Center, the 551,000-sf facility marks Phase II of the FDA’s consolidation plan, which will ultimately bring together FDA operations currently located in 48 leased spaces across the Suburban Maryland to a 3.1-million-sf campus of office and laboratory space at the Federal Research Center.

Centex Construction was charged with erecting the facility which, according to GSA solicitations, carries a price tag of about $50 to $60 million. Donald C. Williams, GSA’s National Capital Region regional administrator, describes completion of the building as another step in the evolution of White Oak as “the premier research complex in America for insuring the safety of our food and medications.”

The FDA’s future 130-acre home, which will ultimately consist of 14 interconnected structures, was once the site of the US Navy’s Naval Ordinance Laboratory and sits off the Capital Beltway in Montgomery County, less than 10 miles outside of Washington, DC. The five-wing CDER Office Building, designed and engineered by Kling and RTKL Associates Inc., will be the largest of the entire complex and accommodate 1,750 workers.

The entire consolidated FDA campus project is a five-phase endeavor with the first phase having consisted of a 111,300-sf lab. Phase III will conclude with development of the 1.1-million-sf multi-structure Center for Devices and Radiological Health Laboratory & Office, while Phase IV will feature the 879,000-sf Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Laboratory & Office, and Phase V will result in the 456,000-sf Office of Commissioner & Office of Regulatory Affairs orifices. The entire project is on schedule to reach completion by the close of 2010.