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Daily Record-December 8, 2001 By BOB KEAVENEY With the technology economy in shambles, you might think developers of the tech park on the University of Maryland Baltimore Countyís Catonsville campus would be satisfied with finishing the first phase of the development, and put the project on hold until the climate improves.
But officials aren't stopping with the transfer of 165 RWD Technologies workers into the first building of the bwtech@UMBC development. Despite a setback from a would-be tenant that officials once thought was all but signed, UMBC is moving ahead with at least one -- and possibly two -- new buildings next year.RWD Technologies, the Columbia-based software solutions and consulting shop, last month moved employees from its corporate training division Latitude360 into the just-completed building of the planned five-building park. The development -- designed to aid Baltimore's efforts to be taken seriously as a center for technology and to boost the university's reputation as a high-end academic center for left-brain thinkers -- is moving forward despite the sharp 18-month decline in the technology economy. ìWe're continuing to see a fair amount of interest and activity,î said Ellen Wiggins, head of the private nonprofit corporation directing the park's development. She agreed that many of the established for-profit companies targeted by developers are 'taking a step back and looking at their internal operations, and when a company is looking inward, typically [it's] not doing a lot of looking at new properties. But eventually that process will be over, and those firms will again be in search of growth space. The first building, a three-story, 62,000-square-foot structure that can hold as many as 275 workers, was fully leased by RWD before construction began in October 2000. The company is retaining its Howard County headquarters while moving its wholly owned Latitude360, which specializes in technology development for the corporate education and training sector, to Catonsville. It hopes ultimately to employ 250 people there. "They're the first group to go over there, but that doesn't mean that they'll be the only ones," said Ken Rebeck, RWD's president and chief operating officer, referring to Latitude360. He said the new building is "a well-equipped facility" that furthers the company's vision of connecting with academic resources and facilities that allow it to incorporate cutting-edge research into its basic mission of providing products and services to Fortune 500 clients. The connection between the company and university academics is an invaluable one as RWD seeks a leg up on its competitors, Rebeck said. "It does give us a competitive edge," he said. "You won't find another e-learning company with the IT capability that we have, and you won't find another that has an advanced technology lab." ëTotal buy-in' And if all goes as planned, two new buildings will begin construction next year, according to Wiggins: one to house Aether Systems, the Owings Mills-based wireless giant; the other built on speculation that tenants will move in after it's finished. That latter facility is expected to be a three-story, 58,000-square-foot building housing several tenants, located east of the RWD building. UMBC hopes ground will be broken on the spec building by summer or earlier. "It's more than just space," said Penny Lewandowski, executive director of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council. "It will truly be a research park, which is what Freeman [Hrabowski, UMBC president] envisioned for it. Freeman did this exactly the right way. He got total buy-in from the university community, and total buy-in from the business community, especially RWD.
"The fact that he wants to go ahead with the second building [despite the economy] says he believes, like we do, that technology is not just a passing fad." The park is being built through the university's corporation, UMBC Research Park Corp., and Grosvenor International, a Washington-based real estate developer. bwtech@UMBC is meant to complement the university's technology incubator, located near campus, but officials say the two facilities are separate and have distinct missions. The UMBC Tech Center, the incubator, is intended for use by small upstart tech companies, most of which aren't yet profitable and are still searching for investment, while the technology park is meant for established, profitable companies. The two centers, though, do have something in common: They both aim to lure tenants partly based on the proposition that the companies will have a relationship with the university and its researchers and have access to UMBC facilities. "The goal really is both to enhance the research mission and reputation of the university and to provide economic development for the region," Wiggins said. "From the latter standpoint, we're mainly talking to for-profit companies. From the university's standpoint, having a research park, especially a successful one, and having a technology program with incubator space, can really help attract talented faculty and students." Ultimately, bwtech@UMBC could house 1,250 employees, she said. Deal hopeful Talks with Aether Systems, whose CEO David Oros is a UMBC alumnus, have been delayed. Aether, which hopes to build a new headquarters at the research park, has laid off more than 500 workers this year in response to the slowdown in technology spending. The company has said the plans are on hold indefinitely, but Wiggins said she remains hopeful that a deal will get done and that construction on the building could begin next year. "My best guess and instincts say it will happen, but a deal is never a deal until it is signed," she said. "There have been some changes in the economy, and some companies are experiencing changes." But those changes have altered only the development timeline of bwtech@UMBC, and even then only moderately, she said. The recession hasn't changed the mission of the tech park or its long-term prospects for success. The arrangement between her corporation and the university is tailored so that there isn't much pressure on her to move things forward quickly -- as there might be if a developer owned the land. Grosvenor assumes the financial risk of the development, but only after deciding to move forward with a new building. "Quite frankly, we're fortunate that we can [wait]," she said. "While the corporation does have operating expenses, they're not so great that we can't wait. We want companies that can really benefit from being here. We all believe the market is going to come back, and with real estate, it takes a year or two to deliver a building, so you're always looking forward anyway."
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