A new manufacturing facility in Philadelphia, dedicated to producing cancer-fighting molecules, broke ground earlier this month.
Gilbane Building Co. turned dirt on the 250,000-square-foot Bellwether Laboratory, according to a Thursday announcement from the contractor. Gilbane was selected to lead preconstruction and construction of the core and shell building. The cost of the project is $450 million.
The manufacturing facility, which is 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 power to treat cancers, according to its website, joined in on the groundbreaking.
The Providence, Rhode Island-based builder touted its success with life sciences projects over the years. These include the Alnylam Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility in Norton, Massachusetts, and the Pfizer Modular Aseptic Processing Facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Indeed, contractors in recent years have been able to take advantage of a boom in the life sciences construction segment, which underwent a shift following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, oversupply issues and cost escalation cooled the red-hot sector in late 2024.
TerraPower Isotopes is a unit of Bellevue, Washington-based TerraPower. The company, owned by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, focuses on nuclear power and its applications.
Via its Natrium arm, one of the company’s projects is an advanced multi-billion dollar nuclear reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming, that uses sodium as a coolant instead of water. Reston, Virginia-based Bechtel broke ground on the reactor in 2024.
Once TerraPower Isotopes’ Bellwether Laboratory in Philadelphia is complete, it 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,” said Ted Holt, Gilbane’s Mid-Atlantic division leader, in the news release. “These complex facilities require builders with deep life sciences expertise to achieve intense speed-to-market demands and rigorous quality standards.”
