The year was 2003, Martin O'Malley had been Mayor for four years seeing Bio-Tech as chance for Baltimore, with Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical System as two world renowned engines to power it. So, in 2003 the cornerstone was laid for not just one but two bio-parks in Baltimore, one on the east side in what would be known by the acronym of the quasi governmental development group East Baltimore Development Inc , i.e. EBDI. The other simply as the UM Bio-Park. It wasn't entirely clear if this was supposed to be a synergistic or a competitive approach and this question remains open to this day.
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| 4MLK a new life science landmark in Baltimore (Photo: Philipsen) |
In 2010 as Governor, O'Malley reminisced about the site then slated for the $200 million proton therapy center for the UM Bio-Park which is since long complete.
"..these blocks were pretty desolate, vacant, hopeless looking places with tumbleweeds virtually going through them and now we see building after building," (Martin O'Malley)
Today the Bio-Park consists of seven buildings, encompasses over 1 million square feet of labs, offices, healthcare and community spaces. The latest building, 4MLK just opened. Several lots remain undeveloped. Over 36 companies provide work for over a 1000 people, not counting the latest building which so far is only partially occupied.
On the east side EBDI has a mixed reputation as an anchor driven community redevelopment for its initial displacement of residents. Most new medically oriented buildings are actually Hopkins facilities and more an expansion of the campus than an incubator of new business.
In spite of the gradual success in the last 22 years, politicians rarely mention Bio-Tech any longer as an engine for Baltimore's revival, as a driver of economic development or as a magnet that bring new talent to the city.
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| Ribbon Cutting: Bringing the politicians back to Biotech (Photo: Philipsen) |
This changed with the ribbon cutting on Wednesday January 15 when Mayor Brandon Scott and Lt. Governor Aruna Miller were there to praise the progress of the UM Bio Park in front of the many guests that packed the spacious two-story lobby overlooking Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Right at the corner of MLK Boulevard and Baltimore Street the 4MLK building is a new Baltimore landmark, with its 250,000 sf of floorspace and eight story height clad in a mostly glass aluminum curtain wall. The building is the only larger structure on the west side of Martin Luther King Boulevard that engages this arterial road and as such forming a counterbalance to the bulky structures of the UM medical campus on the east side. The building stands right in the center of the sightline of anyone coming from the south on MLK into the city. The engagement with the street level is a drastic departure from the many buildings on the UMMS campus that look like fortresses when seen from the pedestrian perspective.
In spite of all the glass, the building is sustainable with a LEED Gold rating and is designed by the architecture firm ZGF, headquartered in Portland, OR with a branch in DC. The two-story lobby is conceived as a public space with open access from an attractive little plaza between the historic firehouse and the new building. Wexford hopes to find a coffee shop or restaurant both for the lobby of the main building and for the firehouse to enliven the courtyard. An adjacent vacant lot allows expansion should the 4MLK facility take off as a successful model.
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| The old firehouse and 4MLK form an intimate courtyard for future use as an outdoor hangout (Photo Philipsen) |
The new building is mostly geared to those start-up businesses spinning off from Baltimore's world renowned University of Maryland Medical Systems (UMMS). Only one floor is occupied by the university, another, developed in collaboration with UMMS is entirely conceived as a co-working space for bio science firms.The fifth floor houses Wexford's national headquarter. Wexford developed and owns the building just like the two earlier bio-park buildings facing each other on Baltimore Street.
Connect Labs by Wexford is intentionally designed for innovative companies, entrepreneurs, and researchers, who are looking for a ’ready-now’ environment that can help advance their discoveries along the commercialization and capitalization pathway. (Wexford Brochure)
Wexford Science & Technology is a developer of science and innovation centers in 17 cities around the country. UM partners with Wexford to support private developers who are building a business in the life sciences.
"This is going to represent a bold vision for breaking down silos between traditional engineering, bioengineering, and medicine," (Mark Gladwin, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine).
As Caroline Moore, the Baltimore based Senior Vice President and Southeast Regional Executive of Wexford explained to me, UM and Hopkins have quite a different approach in cultivating biomedical spin-offs. Hopkins as a partner that stays involved with the start ups with some say-so and control, while UM supports the companies with providing an eco-system but leaving the private companies entirely independent.
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| The UM Bio-Park (UM website) |
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| 4MLK lobby (Photo: Philipsen) |
Much points to the possibility that life sciences are really at a break through during the next decade, especially in the US. The successful COVID vaccine developments are only one indicator. It is good to know that Baltimore has its hat in the ring.
Klaus Philipsen, FAIA
More information about the UM BioPark and 4MLK:
https://www.wbal.com/4mlk-biotech-complex-launches-in-baltimore/
https://wexfordscitech.com/property/4mlk/
https://technical.ly/civic-news/tech-hubs-eda-visit-baltimore/
https://technical.ly/civic-news/4mlk-connect-labs-baltimore-money-moves/
https://technical.ly/civic-news/um-biopark-4mlk-baltimore-life-sciences-photos/
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| 4MLK on the left, the UMMS campus on the right: Departure from the fortresses (Photo: Philipsen) |
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| View from the conference space on the second level (Photo: Philipsen) |
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| Conference area on the second floor (Photo: Philipsen) |
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| Artwork on the wall along the grand stair (Photo: Philipsen) |
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