Montgomery talks to developers for science-technology center

County plans ‘world-class’ project near future FDA campus

The property is near the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s future consolidated headquarters in White Oak and will be linked by road to that facility, according to Tina Benjamin, chief of staff for the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development.

The new center could have 800,000 square feet of office space in about a dozen buildings off Industrial Parkway and U.S. Route 29.

The county presented the concept to the North White Oak Civic Association last year as a bioscience park with a mix of functions. The site is zoned heavy industrial.

A county request for proposals, which closed on March 31, however, does not call for mixed use and there is no current zoning for residential elements, according to Sarah K. Miller, special projects officer with the county economic development office.

Miller said county officials expect to name the developer by the beginning of June.

Meanwhile, Percontee Inc. of Silver Spring has submitted a master plan amendment to add residential development adjacent to the site, but that company is not necessarily one of the three developers to be interviewed by the county. Percontee owns 185 acres next to the science center site.

Plans call for developing a ‘‘World Class Bio⁄Life Sciences, Education and Research Community,‘‘ with the ‘‘creation of an environment where the brightest and the best regulators, researchers, professors, students and medical professionals can meet and share ideas, research and information that will lead to continuing technological, scientific and medical advancements.”

The county is touting the project’s proximity to the FDA campus, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, Howard University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and ‘‘premier medical facilities,” including Washington Hospital Center, Children’s National Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health.

One of the new project’s primary goals is to expand the local and state tax base through the creation of jobs.

County planners are not concerned if current high vacancy rates in local bioscience real estate and a yearlong trend of slow biotech venture funding would impair developing the new center, according to spokeswoman Kristina G. Ellis. A healthy response from developers did not indicate such concerns, either, Miller said. Life sciences vacancy rates are running between 13 percent and 20 percent, depending on whether laboratory space is counted, according to several brokers.

County officials said they were unaware of any input on the project from the new Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board. That group is charged with recommending a priorities list for new bioscience facilities in the state, in a plan to be submitted to Gov. Martin O’Malley in December.

The site was selected from a list of seven or eight properties determined by a 2000 study commissioned by the county from Hammer, Siler, George Associates of Silver Spring.

In April 2007, the county entered into a contract with WSSC to acquire the property. Under its terms, Miller said, the county’s purchase must be completed by Sept. 30 and is pending environmental studies. Closing must occur within 60 days of that date, unless extended by the parties, according to WSSC.

The composting plant processed 400 tons of sewage sludge daily for 16 years until it closed in 1999. According to WSSC spokesman Jim Neustadt, the site required routine groundwater monitoring. Several environmental assessments were conducted at the request of either WSSC or Montgomery County, including a current one to ensure there are no continuing environmental problems.