Team named to develop
new UH cancer center

The partner firms have a track
record with medical projects

A development team with experience designing and building top medical facilities will begin negotiating with the University of Hawaii to build a $200 million Cancer Research Center in Kakaako, near the new medical school.

At a special meeting yesterday, the UH Board of Regents authorized the UH administration to enter into a real estate development agreement with Townsend Capital LLC to design, build, finance and manage construction of the center, which will likely include outpatient clinical facilities and a parking structure.

Townsend's team includes the design and technical team of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership and Architects Hawaii Ltd. and general contractor McCarthy Building Cos. Ltd.

"I am impressed with the qualifications and experience of the Townsend team. The team includes nationally recognized architectural firms and general contractors with pertinent experience in designing and building cancer centers across the country," said Dr. Carl-Wilhelm Vogel, director of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, in a news release.

Townsend's clients include the University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Maryland in Baltimore and Washington University in St. Louis.

The architectural firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership has worked with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the National Institutes of Health, John Hopkins University, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of California. Locally the firm designed the Bishop Museum Science Learning Center, currently under construction.

Architects Hawaii's clients include the new John A. Burns School of Medicine, the Queen's Medical Center, Kuakini Medical Center and the Spark M. Matsunaga Veterans Medical and Regional Center.

McCarthy Building Cos. recently completed construction of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, a project closely comparable to the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. As a joint venture partner with Kiewit Pacific, McCarthy will commence construction of a new facility for Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center in mid-2005.

Approval of a developer is the latest step toward development of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii.

Townsend was selected from 15 responses to a request for qualifications issued in December.