PHILADELPHIA-Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has broken ground for a 558,000-sf research building on an eight-acre portion of the 19-acre site that once housed the Civic Center. The hospital and the University of Pennsylvania acquired the land from Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. in 2005. It is across Civic Center Boulevard from the hospital's main campus on a site now called the South Campus Research Complex.

A spokesman tells GlobeSt.com the projected construction cost for the eight-story building is $400 million. Campbell Soup heir Tristram C. Colket Jr. and his wife, Ruth, donated $25 million for the project. It is the largest single donation ever received by the hospital and follows $10 million previously donated by the Colkets. "This building has not yet been named," the spokeswoman says, "but the Colket's name will be a part of it when the facility opens."

Initially, the structure will have eight stories above ground and four below. They include four stories of lab space, two for administration offices and meeting rooms, and a two-story ground-level space with a lobby and cafeteria. The below-grade floors, the spokesman says, "contain infrastructure and laboratory support space." This phase is expected to reach completion in 2009. The building is designed to accommodate up to 22 stories above ground.

The total facility development is projected to cost $845 million, which includes the addition of 14 floors above the new research center, a utility plant, underground parking and an ambulatory care building. The timeline for expansion has not been determined.

The South Campus complex is part of a 10-year, $1.5-billion expansion plan begun in 2001. A 332,000-sf South Tower and 122,000-sf Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Pediatric Research Center on the main campus have been completed. Exterior renovation of the children's hospital is 95% complete. A 300,000-sf West Tower is currently under way, and occupancy will be phased in between now and 2009.