Facilities Management Advisor’s “Under Construction” series highlights some of the latest, most interesting facility project announcements every month.
$4.1B Plant for Ozempic Maker
We’ve all heard of Ozempic, the “miracle” weight loss drug Hollywood stars started using to look slim on the red carpet, but did you know its primary use is to treat diabetes? Now, Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and many other medicines, is injecting $4.1 billion to expand its U.S.-based manufacturing capacity. The investment will go toward building a second fill and finishing facility adjacent to existing operations in Clayton, N.C., helping boost the company’s ability to produce current and future injectable treatments for people with obesity and other serious chronic diseases.
Organization: Novo Nordisk
Location: Clayton, N.C.
Type of project: New build
Size: 1.4 million square feet
Estimated cost: $4.1 billion
Design-build team: BE&K Building Group
Status: Announced June 24
Expected completion: Gradually between 2027 and 2029
Interesting tidbit: The expansion project will involve the construction of 10 or more buildings and multi-building combinations, according to contractor BE&K Building Group. Ultimately, the new facility will add 1.4 million square feet of production space, doubling the combined square footage of all three of Novo Nordisk’s existing facilities in North Carolina. Utilizing state-of-the-art tech, rooftop solar panels, and innovative water strategies, the facility is designed to be sustainable and will aim to obtain the LEED Gold green building certification.
Quote: Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, said, “This is yet another real signal of our efforts to scale up our production to meet the growing global need for our life-changing medicines and the patients of tomorrow.”
More details available here.
UC Davis Hospital Tower
UC Davis Health, a nationally renowned academic health center that’s part of the University of California, Davis, has broken ground on a $3.74 billion expansion project called the California Tower. The addition includes a 14-story hospital tower and 5-story pavilion at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. The new tower will add nearly 1 million square feet of space to the eastern side of the existing hospital.
Organization: UC Davis Health
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Type of project: Addition
Size: ~1 million square feet
Estimated cost: $3.74 billion
Design-build team: McCarthy Building Companies Inc. and SmithGroup
Status: Ground broken July 22
Expected completion: 2030
Interesting tidbit: The California Tower will include new operating rooms, an imaging center, leading-edge facilities for pharmacy and burn care units, and about 334 private rooms for patients. More than 250 of the rooms are being designed for greater flexibility in the event of a patient surge such as a pandemic, massive wildfire, or other disaster. These will easily convert into intensive care unit (ICU) rooms with air isolation to treat patients of any level of hospitalization. Notably, the California Tower will also replace parts of the hospital that must close due to state seismic regulations. Hospitals across California are in the process of upgrading their existing facilities or constructing new buildings that can withstand major earthquakes.
Quote: UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May said, “This project will position our researchers, students, faculty, and staff to meet and adapt to regional healthcare needs for the next 50 years.”
More details available here.
Bill-Gates-Backed Nuclear Facility
It’s not every day that a new nuclear power plant gets built, let alone using futuristic technology. TerraPower, a company chaired and founded by billionaire Bill Gates, has started construction on the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project in Wyoming. Through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), a public-private partnership, this project is intended to validate the design, construction, and operational features of Natrium technology.
Organization: TerraPower
Location: Kemmerer, Wyo.
Type of project: New build
Size: N/A
Estimated cost: Up to $4 billion
Design-build team: Bechtel Corp.
Status: Ground broken June 10
Expected completion: 2030
Interesting tidbit: This marks the first advanced nuclear reactor project under construction in the Western Hemisphere. Upon completion and subject to regulatory approvals, the Natrium demonstration project will be a fully functioning commercial power plant. It is being constructed near a retiring coal-fired power plant and is the only coal-to-nuclear project under development in the world. The project features a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system’s output to 500 MW of power when needed, which is equivalent to the energy required to power around 400,000 homes. The energy storage capability allows the plant to integrate seamlessly with renewable resources and is the only advanced reactor design with this unique feature, according to TerraPower.
Quote: Bill Gates said, “I’m proud of all the partners and people who helped get the most advanced nuclear project in the world built in Kemmerer, Wyoming. I believe that TerraPower’s next-generation nuclear energy will power the future of our nation—and the world.”
More details available here.
Data Center Conversion
Compass Datacenters, alongside partners from the Village of Hoffman Estates and utility ComEd, kicked off a project to transform the former Sears headquarters in Chicago into a data center campus. Compass will construct five hyperscale data centers on the nearly 200-acre site. The future of Sears’ expansive, seven-building campus had been in question since the major retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and demand for office space dwindled after the COVID-19 pandemic. Dallas-based Compass bought the site in 2023.
Organization: Compass Datacenters
Location: Chicago
Type of project: New build
Size: ~200 acres
Estimated cost: N/A
Status: Ground broken June 13
Expected completion: N/A
Interesting tidbit: According to ComEd, the new Compass project continues a trend in data center development in the Chicagoland market, with nearly 30 new data centers announcing plans to launch projects in the utility’s service territory in the last five years. As Compass knocks down buildings, the company will repurpose concrete, stone blocks, and asphalt from the existing site as fill to make the site even and as aggregate in concrete production.
Quote: Compass CEO Chris Crosby said, “We’re taking a methodical approach to demolition and doing all we can to minimize waste. It will take over a year to complete this work, setting the stage for Compass to do what it does best—building sustainably and building to last.”
More details available here.
Honorable Mentions
- Walmart Automated Distribution Centers
- Arkansas’ First Dental School
- New A.R.T. at Harvard
- $1B Upgrades for GE Aerospace
- Latest Laps for Andretti HQ
Do you have a major project announcement you’d like considered for the “Under Construction” series? Please contact Editor Joe Bebon at JBebon@BLR.com.