Gilead Sciences just hit a big milestone in Foster City. Crews have set the final steel beam on the company’s new Technical Development Center, capping off the five-story frame and shifting the project from heavy lifting to the detail work that will actually turn the shell into a working lab building above Vintage Park.
Construction teams and project partners marked the moment with a traditional topping-out ceremony, signing the last beam before it went up. According to McCarthy Building Companies, the structure’s steel package weighs roughly 2,364 tons, supported by a foundation that used about 2,200 cubic yards of concrete. McCarthy says the project now moves into building enclosure, installation of mechanical and electrical systems, and interior fit-out.
What’s Inside the New Center
Once complete, the five-story Technical Development Center is set to house pilot biologics labs, single-use manufacturing suites, and digitally enabled systems designed to speed technology transfer across Gilead’s drug pipeline. According to Gilead, the building will span roughly 181,000 square feet and is being designed for about 300 colleagues, including 190 lab users.
The company says the facility is targeting LEED Gold certification and an all-electric, low-carbon approach, with a planned opening in the third quarter of 2027. In short, it is being set up as a modern, sustainability-focused workhorse for Gilead’s biologics work.
How It Fits in the Campus Plan
The topping-out is one visible piece of a broader plan to convert older low-rise office buildings into lab and R&D space across Gilead’s Vintage Park campus. The project appears on the Major Projects list maintained by the City of Foster City, which tracks large developments in town.
Local coverage has also documented the construction milestone, including a shot of the final beam being lowered into place, as reported by the San Mateo Daily Journal. Planning records indicate that Gilead’s long-range campus proposals go beyond this one structure and point to a larger, multi-phase redevelopment that would add substantial lab space in the coming years.
Economy and Jobs
Gilead is pitching the Foster City build as part of a wider national investment push. The company says it has pledged roughly $32 billion of U.S. investment through 2030, which it expects will generate more than $43 billion in economic value and support thousands of direct and indirect jobs, according to Gilead.
Company materials say the Foster City Technical Development Center is intended to bolster biologics capabilities on the campus and bring technical development and pilot manufacturing closer to the research and development teams that feed Gilead’s pipeline.
Next Steps
With the frame complete, construction will focus on enclosing the building, installing mechanical and electrical systems, and getting lab suites ready for commissioning over the next year as interior trades ramp up.
Neighbors can expect continued construction traffic and activity through 2026 as crews work through interior fit-out, then move into equipment installation and testing ahead of the center’s targeted opening.
