Among the first buildings to go up will be a 300,000-sf laboratory and a 175,000-sf communications center. With the additional space, the agency plans to consolidate employees presently housed in rented office space. The locations are the CDC headquarters complex a few miles east of Downtown Atlanta, and the Chamblee campus about 12 miles northeast of the city.

The agency has selected six general contractors and five architects/engineers to bid for different segments of the work. On the contractors' short list are Beers Construction of Atlanta; Bovis Lend Lease with offices in Atlanta and New York; Gilbane Building Co., Providence, RI; McCarthy Co., St. Louis; Turner Construction Co., New York; and Whiting Turner Joint Venture, Baltimore.

On the architects' short list are three Atlanta firms, Lord, Aeck & Sargent, Perkins & Will, and Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates; CUH2A Inc., Princeton, NJ; and Obata + Kassabaum, St. Louis. CUH2A and Obata + Kassenbaum have offices in Atlanta.