Gilbane, DPS JV to build $614M Albany nanotech center expansion

Feb 6, 2025
2 min read

A rendering of the expansion at the Albany NanoTech Complex in Albany, New York. @ Gilbane Building Co.

The research and development facility will include a new, 50,000-square-foot ISO 5 cleanroom and a high-voltage switchyard upgrade. Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co. and Amsterdam-based manufacturing construction firm DPS Advanced Technology Group formed a joint venture to work on a new development facility at the Albany NanoTech Complex in Albany, New York, according to a Gilbane news release.

The complex’s newest addition is a four-story research and development facility that houses a new, 50,000-square-foot ISO 5 cleanroom with accompanying sub-fab, per the release, along with a new, 900-car parking garage and a high voltage switchyard upgrade.

NY CREATES, a nonprofit technology facilitator that leads public-private partnerships for tech builds in New York State, manages the complex, according to its website. The project will cost $614 million, according to documents from the nonprofit’s Dec. 16 board meeting. The work marks the Albany NanoTech Complex’s first expansion in nearly a decade. The most recent endeavor was the 356,000-square-foot Zero Energy Nanotechnology building in 2015, according to the facility’s website.

Gilbane and DPS joined forces to deal with the challenges of the build, which include work on advanced wafer fab design and construction on an active site with operational research and development facilities, per the release. The JV tapped Arcadis, which owns DPS, to provide design services that include architecture and engineering.

“We’re committed to delivering this design-build project with quality, excellence, and precision to help support this hub for cutting-edge research and collaboration between academia and the industry,” said Christian Calabrese, Gilbane senior project executive, in the release.

Advanced manufacturing continues to catch the eye of the construction industry — PCL Construction ramped up its manufacturing group as demand in the sector remains high due to an emphasis on onshoring.

That optimism comes even as economic uncertainty stems from President Donald Trump’s executive orders that attempt to curtail certain funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act.