In New York City, where space for people is at a premium, finding room for mice is no small task. Faced with cramped quarters for their research animals, six local research institutes—including Columbia University and Rockefeller University—are forming a new consortium to create a bigger and better new mouse house.

The institutes hope the new arrangement will help them attract and retain the best researchers. “Every field in biomedical research is highly dependent on the use of transgenic and knockout mice,” says Dennis Kohn, director of Columbia University's Institute of Comparative Medicine. A researcher might begin with 50 cages of mice—three to a cage—but within a few years, it is not unusual to need 200 to 300 cages. The consortium plans to build new space for 25,000 to 30,000 additional mouse cages.

“We estimate a projected need of about 500,000 mice for all six institutions combined by the year 2009,” says Maria Mitchell, president of the Academic Medicine Development Company, which is leading the consortium's effort.

The new residence will be strictly a breeding facility, and mice will be sent to the institutions for research, says Chris Cosgrove, a vivarium planning specialist with CUH2A, a New Jersey–based company that will help plan the house. The site is likely to be outside Manhattan, but will have good access to public transportation, Cosgrove says.

Work on the new house will begin this year and is expected to be complete by 2006 at the latest. All told, the living space will cost about $233 per mouse, and total costs could reach $15 million.

A mouse house requires more complicated mechanical systems than might be expected, says Cosgrove. “Unlike offices or other labs, housing for mice uses only single-pass air to minimize cross-contamination and maintain a clean environment,” he says. “You and I go home at night—the mice don't.”

In addition to an air system that provides 100% fresh air, HEPA filtering and tight temperature and humidity control, the building must have backup and emergency power and space for additional maintenance. Such mechanical needs can occupy nearly half of a building compared with a traditional office, which needs only 10–20% additional space.