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A new manufacturing facility in Philadelphia, dedicated to producing anti-cancer molecules, broke ground earlier this month.
Gilbane Building Co. turned dirt in the 250,000-square-foot Bellwether labaccording to a Thursday announcement from the contractor. Gilbane was selected to lead the preconstruction and construction of the core and shell building. The cost of the project is 450 million dollars.
The manufacturing facility, located in Philadelphia’s Bellwether District, will be dedicated to the production of radioactive molecules that will be used to treat advanced cancers, according to the announcement.
Chicago-based real estate investment firm HRP Group and the facility’s owner, TerraPower Isotopes, which uses nuclear research and energy to treat cancers, according to its website, joined the innovation.
The Providence, Rhode Island-based builder touted its success with life science projects over the years. These include Alnylam’s pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Norton, Massachusetts, and Pfizer’s modular aseptic processing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
In fact, contractors in recent years have been able to take advantage of a boom in the life sciences construction segment, which underwent a change in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, problems of oversupply and cost escalation cooled the red-hot sector by the end of 2024.
TerraPower Isotopes is a unit of TerraPower based in Bellevue, Washington. The company, owned by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, focuses on nuclear energy and its applications.
Through its Natrium arm, one of the company’s projects is advanced multimillion dollar nuclear reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming, which uses sodium as a coolant instead of water. Bechtel, based in Reston, Virginia, began building the reactor in 2024.
Upon completion, TerraPower Isotopes’ Bellwether Laboratory in Philadelphia will provide more than 225 jobs to the surrounding community, according to the announcement.
“Gilbane has played a pivotal role in shaping the expanding life sciences landscape in the Greater Philadelphia region,” Ted Holt, Gilbane’s Mid-Atlantic division leader, said in the press release. “These complex facilities require builders with deep life sciences expertise to meet intense speed-to-market demands and rigorous quality standards.”
