Earlier this month, a real-estate development joint venture broke ground in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., on the $85 million, 205,000-sf Doug Meijer Medical Innovation Building that is expected to drive innovation in life sciences through research, testing, and the commercialization of new therapies.
The project, which is scheduled for completion in in late 2021, is the result of a public-private partnership called Health Innovation Partners that includes Michigan State University (MSU), locally based GC Rockford Construction, and two Chicago-based firms Walsh Construction and Murphy Development Group. SmithGroup is the project’s lead architect.
Health Innovation Partners is leasing the land for the six-story Medical Innovation Building from MSU along the university’s so-called Medical Mile, next door to MSU’s 162,000-sf Research Center, which opened in 2017 and whose researchers concentrate on finding cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The new building will include a 600-car parking structure. A third building is in the planning stage.
Over 250 guests, team members, and local officials turned out for the Nov. 18 groundbreaking of the Doug Meijer Medical Innovation Building in Grand Rapids, Mich.
MSU President Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., MD, stated during the groundbreaking ceremony that this latest project is one more step in Grand Rapids’ emergence as a national player in the health research and innovation space. Confirmed tenants for the Medical Innovation Building are the MSU College of Human Medicine, Spectrum Health, and BAMF Health, a biotech company focused on delivering AI-enabled medicine through molecular imaging and Theranostics.
Future tenants are likely to focus on cancer research, mental health, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, bioinformatics and artificial intelligence, digital and consumer-driven health technologies, and medical device development.
The new building is named after Doug Meijer, co-chairman of the supermarket chain Meijer, whose Meijer Foundation donated $19.5 million to the MSU Board of Trustees for the Medical Innovation Building’s construction.
Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., MD, President of Michigan State University (above), and Mike VanGessel, founder and CEO of Rockford Construction, a national construction and property management provider (below).
Related Stories
| Jan 10, 2011
Michael J. Alter, president of The Alter Group: ‘There’s a significant pent-up demand for projects’
Michael J. Alter, president of The Alter Group, a national corporate real estate development firm headquartered in Skokie, Ill., on the growth of urban centers, project financing, and what clients are saying about sustainability.
| Dec 17, 2010
ARRA-funded Navy hospital aims for LEED Gold
The team of Clark/McCarthy, HKS Architects, and Wingler & Sharp are collaborating on the design of a new naval hospital at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. The $451 million project is the largest so far awarded by the U.S. Navy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The 500,000-sf, 67-bed hospital, to be located on a 70-acre site, will include facilities for emergency and primary care, specialty care clinics, surgery, and intensive care. The Building Team is targeting LEED Gold.
| Dec 17, 2010
Arizona outpatient cancer center to light a ‘lantern of hope’
Construction of the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, Ariz., is under way. Located on the Banner Gateway Medical Center campus near Phoenix, the three-story, 131,000-sf outpatient facility will house radiation oncology, outpatient imaging, multi-specialty clinics, infusion therapy, and various support services. Cannon Design incorporated a signature architectural feature called the “lantern of hope” for the $90 million facility.
| Oct 18, 2010
World’s first zero-carbon city on track in Abu Dhabi
Masdar City, the world’s only zero-carbon city, is on track to be built in Abu Dhabi, with completion expected as early as 2020. Foster + Partners developed the $22 billion city’s master plan, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Aedas, and Lava Architects designing buildings for the project’s first phase, which is on track to be ready for occupancy by 2015.
| Oct 13, 2010
Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
| Oct 13, 2010
Hospital tower gets modern makeover
The Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn., expanded its D unit, a project that includes a 243,443-sf addition with a 12-room operating suite, a 36-bed intensive care unit, and an enlarged emergency department.
| Oct 13, 2010
Hospital and clinic join for better patient care
Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, the two-story Owatonna (Minn.) Hospital, owned by Allina Hospitals and Clinics, connects to a newly expanded clinic owned by Mayo Health System to create a single facility for inpatient and outpatient care.
| Oct 13, 2010
Maryland replacement hospital expands care, changes name
The new $120 million Meritus Regional Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md., has 267 beds, 17 operating rooms with high-resolution video screens, a special care level II nursery, and an emergency room with 53 treatment rooms, two trauma rooms, and two cardiac rooms.
| Oct 13, 2010
Cancer hospital plans fifth treatment center
Construction is set to start in December on the new Cancer Treatment Centers of America’s $55 million hospital in Newnan, Ga. The 225,000-sf facility will have 25 universal inpatient beds, two linear accelerator vaults, an HDR/Brachy therapy vault, and a radiology and imaging unit.
| Oct 13, 2010
New health center to focus on education and awareness
Construction is getting pumped up at the new Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, Denver. The four-story, 94,000-sf building will focus on healthy lifestyles and disease prevention.
