December 16 , 2009
New Tenants at 5520
bwtech@UMBC welcomes the following tenants to the Research Park’s 5520 building: Subway Café, Maryland Business Roundtable for Education and The Research Group. They will join current tenant RMF Engineering in early 2010.
Subway Café, which will occupy 1,600 square feet on the building’s first floor, gives the building a food service establishment. The first Subway Café opened in Alexandria, VA in the summer of 2008 and is expanding across the country. The restaurants are an upscale version of the traditional Subway concept and feature panini sandwiches, gelato, baked goods and coffee drinks in addition to the chain's traditional subs.
Maryland Business Roundtable for Education (MBRT), a coalition of business leaders working to improve public education in Maryland, will occupy nearly 3,500 square feet on the first floor. Currently, MBRT is located in downtown Baltimore and is excited about joining the UMBC community.
“The bwtech@UMBC Research Park offers us an ideal location to continue our mission of improving Maryland’s public schools,” said June Streckfus, executive director of MBRT. “UMBC is a standout in higher education and is committed to advancing education in science, technology and mathematics. We are excited to be on campus.”
The Research Group, a full service market research firm, and its focus group facilities and field-service division, Observation Baltimore, will move from their downtown Baltimore headquarters to an 8,000 square-foot space on the second floor of the 5520 building in March. The company is excited about the strategic location because of its convenience to BWI Airport, D.C., and downtown Baltimore, making it easy to accommodate its national client base.
"Ninety-five percent of our clients come to us from out of town. Proximity to BWI, AMTRAK, downtown Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. provides tremendous opportunities to serve our current clients better, and more importantly, attract new prospects," said Barbara Gassaway, president and CEO of The Research Group. "We are extremely impressed with the quality and environmental friendliness of the 5520 facility, and we are equally excited about the range of opportunities UMBC offers as a new academic partner."
“We are delighted to welcome these companies to the Research Park,” said Ellen Hemmerly, executive director, bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park. “Our state-of-the-art Class A office space, located in a federal HUBZone with incentives available, is proving very attractive to many businesses.”
The 107,000 square foot building was developed by Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) (NYSE: OFC). This is the second building COPT developed at the park; the first was the U.S. Geological Survey building at 5522 Research Park Drive.