Medical Device Manufacturer Breaks Ground on Durham Headquarters

MED-EL Corporation, a medical devices company that develops and manufactures ear implants and speech processors, has broken ground on the company’s new U.S. headquarters at the Meridian business park in Durham, North Carolina.

The Durham based manufacturer will be the anchor tenant for the three-story $18 million office building at 2645 Meridian Parkway that’s being developed by Herndon, Virginia based American Real Estate Partners, owner of nine other buildings inside the Durham corporate park.

MED-EL president and CEO Ray Gamble says that by the time the 57,000 square foot building is complete, they may need all of the third floor space as well.

“We’re the second largest cochlear implant company in the world, and we’re not going to settle for that,” Gamble says. The new building is expected to be ready for move in by September 2017.

Gamble says the company had briefly looked at options for moving outside of the Triangle, “but we’ve been in Research Triangle Park for 20 years, and it’s been good to us.” Plus, the company is still in close proximity to two of Med-El’s largest clients, the UNC Health Care system in Chapel Hill and the Duke Health system in Durham.

American Real Estate Partners have started making plans for another potential build to suit office building project on another lot it owns at 2540 Meridian Parkway.

“We are at about 96 percent occupancy right now, and we hope to keep it that way,” says T.J. Sevier, AREP senior vice president of asset management. “At the same time, we have a lot of tenants who are growing within the park. “

MED-EL Corporation, a medical devices company, develops and manufactures hearing solutions. It offers hearing systems, middle ear implants, implantable hearing devices, and speech processors.