Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. Expansion, Groundbreaking Ceremony Announced

RICHMOND, Va., March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.), Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, and Lingerfelt Development announced today a groundbreaking ceremony, named The Big Chomp, to be held on March 29, 2012 as part of a $68.5 million, two-phase expansion project.

Date: Thursday, March 29th

Time: 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Location: This tented-event, held rain or shine, will be located on the top level of the parking deck (third floor directly behind the BioTech 5 Building) at 737 N. 5th Street. Parking for this event will be located in the UNOS gravel lot at 622 N. 4th Street (one block west of the parking deck).

HDL, Inc., which is currently located in the BioTech 8 building within the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, will begin removing the three-story BioTech 3 building at The Big Chomp event and replace it with a six-story structure in order to expand its footprint as the company continues its average 5-8% weekly growth rate.

"Since Health Diagnostic Laboratory was founded in 2009, we've grown from a staff of 11 people to almost 500 employees, with immediate plans to hire many more to work at our expanded facilities in the BioTech Park," said Tonya Mallory, co-founder and chief executive officer of HDL, Inc.

The Virginia BioTechnology Park, which houses 62 tenants on its 34-acre campus, will partner with Lingerfelt Development, a real estate development firm headquartered in Richmond, VA, to begin the two-phase expansion project this month. The anticipated completion date for the first phase is December 2012, followed by the construction of a second six-story building in 2013. The project architect is McKinney & Company and the contractor is The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company.

"The planned expansion of Biotech 8 and dynamic growth of Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. are transforming the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park," said Robert T. Skunda, President and CEO of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. "The expansion will bring total development of the Park to 1.2 million square feet and will push total employment to over 2,500 jobs in the next two years."

About Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc.
Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.), a CAP accredited leader in health management, offers a comprehensive test menu of risk factors and biomarkers for cardiovascular and related diseases. Our systematic approach identifies factors contributing to disease and provides a basis for effective treatment, allowing physicians to more effectively manage patients.  As an added value, patients receive a personalized overview of their risk factors along with intensive counseling from expert Health Coaches at no additional cost, improving compliance and enhancing satisfaction. For more information about HDL, Inc. and its mission, please visit www.myhdl.com.

About Virginia BioTechnology Park
The Virginia BioTechnology Research Park is currently home to a unique mix of over 60 public and private bioscience companies, research institutes affiliated with the VCU Medical Center, and major state and national medical laboratories. These companies are housed in nine buildings totaling more than 1.1 million square feet of space, representing an employee base that exceeds 2,000. The Park's nationally recognized biosciences business incubation program, the Virginia Biosciences Development Center (VBDC), has successfully graduated more than 40 client companies, including three publicly traded firms.  VBDC's client companies and graduates have attracted more than $400 million in equity, grant and strategic capital.  The Park's Virginia Biosciences Commercialization Center was created to assist international life sciences companies locating at the Park with commercialization activities through M&A or IPO, giving these Park's tenants full-scale business assistance as they enter the US market. The Commercialization Center is working with 9 bioscience companies with technologies ranging from medical devices to diagnostics and therapeutics.  www.vabiotech.com

About Lingerfelt Development 
Lingerfelt Development has proven history of meeting clients' needs and challenges through successful quality real estate solutions backed by over 11,000,000 square feet of development and acquisition valued at over $1 billion.  Customizing design and structure to meet each client's specific development requirements, Lingerfelt Development specializes in build-to-suit projects, working with the client to meet their goals through knowledge, expertise and experience. From initial concept to project completion, Lingerfelt Development brings a full range of in-depth planning and a proven track record to every project to protect the quality of your investment. Their extensive experience and aggressive market approach produce versatile, responsive solutions to dynamic economic and development situations while cultivating strong, effective relationships between client and company. Lingerfelt Development...designing, building and maintaining total responsiveness to your development needs.  www.lingerfeltco.com

SOURCE HDL, Inc.