On May 3, supporters, researchers, and members of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) community came together to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Neurosciences Building. Dr. Stephen Hauser served as Master of Ceremonies for a neuroscience symposium highlighting some of the research the building will support. Presentations were given by leading UCSF neuroscientists, including Dr. Stanley Prusiner, Dr. Stephen Lisberger, Dr. Bruce Miller, Dr. Wade Smith and Dr. Allison Doupe. Attendees, including Senator Dianne Feinstein, then moved over to the ground breaking ceremony, which was highlighted by a speech from Mr. Richard Blum of the Regents of the University of California. The Neurosciences Building will be a five-story, 237,000 square-foot building located off the central quad of the Mission Bay campus. The state-of-the-art facility will create a collaborative atmosphere for the Department of Neurology including the Memory and Aging Center and Multiple Sclerosis Center, the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, and the W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience. The building will bring together research to accelerate advancements with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, migraine, epilepsy and autism. The project is being delivered through a Public-Private Partnership, which transferred the risk of price, schedule, and facility management to the private sector. UCSF contracted with Edgemoor/McCarthy Cook Partners to develop, design, build, and operate the facility for thirty-eight years through a lease-leaseback agreement. Under this innovative structure, the building is being delivered on a fast-track basis, with design and construction ongoing simultaneously. Through the utilization of this delivery method, UCSF is able to receive the building more quickly and cost effectively than comparable buildings on campus. Clark Construction is the general contractor and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill is the project architect.
