The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recently celebrated the completion of construction for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Office Building I at the Federal Research Center in White Oak, Maryland. GSA Administrator Stephen Perry, Secretary of Health & Human Services Michael Leavitt, FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford, Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah, Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland; Representatives Steny Hoyer and Albert Wynn; and Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele participated in the ceremony, which was hosted by Donald C. Williams, Regional Administrator for GSA’s National Capital Region.
“We are pleased to be taking another step toward the completion of this great facility,” commented Donald C. Williams, Regional Administrator for GSA’s National Capital Region (NCR), “as the White Oak campus becomes the premier research complex in America for insuring the safety of our food and medications.”
With 551,000 gross square feet of office space, the new building will accommodate CDER’s Office of New Drug Evaluation and its support functions, housing 1,750 people. It will be the largest facility in the complex, designed with five wings so that all offices have exterior windows and natural daylight permeates virtually all parts of the building.
In addition to headquarters for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), the new campus will house FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), Center for Biological Evaluation and Research (CBER), Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) and Office of the Commissioner (OC). The project totals 3.1 million gross square feet of office and lab space, consolidating FDA activities currently housed in 48 leased locations throughout suburban Maryland. Campus buildings will be grouped into clusters that are linked together by covered walkways. Subsequent phases, which are scheduled for completion by the end of 2010, are either in the design stage or scheduled for future funding by Congress.
