FREDERICK, MD. — SAIC-Frederick Inc. will soon start work on the 330,000-square-foot Advanced Technology Research Facility for the National Cancer Institute. A groundbreaking for the project was held last year, but construction was unable to move forward due to the recession. The $200 million development, which will be comprised of office and laboratory space, will span 62 acres at the 177-acre Riverside Research Park in Frederick. An additional 570,000 square feet is planned for future expansion.
The Cancer Institute’s facility is slated for a mid-2011 delivery. Pete Briskman of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Bethesda, Md., office helped represent the institute in securing the space. He says the center’s development is a culmination of years of work and will be another asset in the fight against a deadly disease. “It’s about curing cancer and doing it sooner than later,” he says.
When complete, the facility will be the only Federally Funded Research and Development Center in the country dedicated to biomedical research and development, according to a news release. But public financing was not enough to get the facility built. To make the project a reality, The Matan Companies and Federal Capital Partners worked to arrange a $52 million construction loan, which Wells Fargo Bank and US Bank provided. Colliers Pinkard also assisted in securing financing for the development.
Briskman says the public-private nature of the project will help stimulate real estate interest in the surrounding area. Life science and technology organizations that can benefit from the National Cancer Institute’s research may soon be clamoring for space near the development.
“[The Advanced Technology Research Facility] will be a driver of growth,” Briskman says. “There will be great synergies that result from this facility.”
— J. Howard Ross