DEMAND STRONG FOR WEST SIDE BIOTECH PARK

NEWS

January 10, 2005

By EZRA K. FIESER, Daily Record Business Writer

With nearly 70 percent of the first building of its West Baltimore biotechnology park leased, the University of Maryland, Baltimore will make room for small, emerging companies.

University officials and Towson-based Townsend Capital LLC., which is developing the 120,000-square-foot building on the 800 block of West Baltimore Street, have leased four of the building's six floors. After seeing growing demand from small companies,the fourth floor of the building will be divided, the developer said.

"We are finding prospective tenants who want small lab and office suites and yet room to expand as the business grows," Jim Berens, president of Townsend Capital, said in a statement.

The company has already inked deals with three anchors, American Red Cross Holland Labs, SNBL Clinical Pharmacology Center Inc. and UPM Pharmaceuticals Inc. Holland Labs, a stem cell research company that will bring its $10 million in federal funding from Montgomery County, will have the largest presence with 40,000 square feet and 100 employees.

SNBL Clinical, a Japanese contract research firm, has agreed to take 20,000 square feet and UPM Pharmaceuticals, a contract drug developer that spun out of the university years ago, is leasing part of a floor.

"The major tenants have existing relationships with the university," Matthew Seward, the agent for Colliers Pinkard leasing the building, said. "But with some of the smaller companies, they are all different. Some are local. Some are from out of the area. Many don't have a relationship with the university."

Proposals from many of the companies are being evaluated.

"We're working on some proposals from tenants that, we hope, will grow within the park," Seward said. "One of the most important things to have as a younger lifestyle company is flexibility."

Leases for the smaller companies will be more flexible than traditional leases, with clauses allowing them to easily expand. According to a 2003 study by the Tech Council of Maryland, biotech startups sited flexibility in lab and office space and the ability to expand as one of the most important business development issues.

It is also one of the biggest expenses. Wet lab space costs between $100 and $200 per square foot to build out, according to the report. The state, through its Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority and other incentive packages, provide as much as $65 per square foot for the build out.

Although the floor will have shared services and access to a business resource office, Seward said it will not be an incubator. With more demand from small companies, the floor plan could be replicated in future buildings.

University officials have released requests for qualifications for developers to build the second 120,000-square-foot building. The campus will potentially have six, with building one opening in May.