BWTECH@UMBC CONSTRUCTION REPORT
January 2007
bwtech@UMBC is a 41-acre research and technology community at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). bwtech@UMBC has a total development capacity of up to 350,000 square feet of office and laboratory space. The park will ultimately comprise five new state-of-the-art buildings occupied by research and technology firms. The firms have access to university expertise, students, technology, programs and facilities. Construction of the university's research and technology park is on schedule.
bwtech@UMBC was Maryland 's first university research park. It is the only research and development park in Baltimore County. The Park's first building, 5521 Research Park Drive, completed in 2001, is occupied by RWD Technologies. A second building, 5523 Research Park Drive, completed in 2004, is fully leased. Both buildings are owned by Merritt Properties, LLC.
The real estate development firm Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) is managing construction of both the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) building and a 110,000 square-foot, four-story, multi-tenant building at bwtech@UMBC, the park's fourth of five planned buildings.
The Erickson facility will be the fifth bwtech@UMBC building.
5522 Research Park Drive – The third building, USGS Water Science Center , will be a 1-story, 23,000 square-foot facility located at 5522 Research Park Drive. The total construction cost of the project is projected to be approximately $4,236,000.
COPT broke ground for the USGS building in 2006. The steel erection is complete and the slab on grade is poured. Exterior wall construction began the week of January 15, 2007. The masonry walls at the Receiving Area are being constructed. Roofing should start in mid-February.
The USGS Center employs over 60 scientists and support staff, who are expected to strengthen collaborative work with UMBC and U.S. Forest Service scientists who monitor the ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the health of the region's water supply, rivers and streams.
The USGS's decision to move from its previous location in White Marsh was strongly influenced by the longtime research partnership between USGS and UMBC's Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, Center for Urban and Environmental Research and Education (CUERE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the U.S. Forest Service and the Baltimore Ecosystem Study.
5520 Research Park Drive – Design for the multi-tenant building is underway. Anticipated submission date for building permit is April 1, 2007 with expectations of building construction starting in May 2007. The building pad has been graded. The entire site has been rough graded. The total construction cost of the project is projected to be approximately $22 million.
5525 Research Park Drive – Erickson Development Services will construct a $20 million building. Erickson will begin construction of the four-story, 97,695 square-foot building in June 2007. Erickson will move its information technology (IT) department, its adult living national broadcast network Retirement Living TV (RL-TV), and its private charitable foundation to the building, expected to be completed by August 2008.
RL-TV will house its corporate headquarters and three production studios in the new facility. The network recently signed a national broadcasting agreement with DirectTV to expand its viewing audience to over 24 million homes. Retirement Living TV produces programming focused on health, finance, politics and living for people over the age of 55. RL-TV recently partnered with UMBC's New Media Studio to produce pilots for two programs and is expected to collaborate further with UMBC's Imaging Research Center and College of Arts , Humanities and Social Sciences.
