Monument Realty Developing New Lab in Maryland’s Life Science Corridor
By Keith Loria November 30, 2021 4:59 pm
reprints
A joint venture between Monument Realty and Nuveen will develop Monument Innovation Center, a 135,000-square-foot life sciences lab and office space in Gaithersburg, Md.
Located at 735 Watkins Mill Road in Maryland’s 37-mile I-270 life sciences cluster, the property is being built on a 33-acre parcel of land owned by an affiliate of Monument Realty.
“The principal appeal of the property is two-fold: building quality and location,” Doug Olson, Monument Realty’s executive vice president, told Commercial Observer. “The building is designed to meet the unique technical requirements of this industry, and Gaithersburg is squarely in the middle of one of the most highly funded and fastest growing life sciences markets in the country.”
The property is near leading federal and private research institutions in a booming life sciences sector.
“The need for a life sciences property, like Monument Innovation Center, is considerable,” Olson said. “The I-270 Life Sciences Corridor in Maryland totals roughly 10.5 million square feet, the vacancy rate is 2 percent, and there is currently more than 1 million square feet of tenants in the market seeking life sciences space. Demand exceeds supply, and large blocks of R&D/lab space have become increasingly rare.”
The four-story development will feature slab-to-slab heights of 17 feet on the first floor and 15-foot slab-to-slab heights on the remaining floors. Additionally, the building will offer increased loading capacity and enhanced electrical capacity on all tenant floors, as well as being built to LEED certification.
The joint venture has successfully obtained all necessary zoning approvals and is currently working through the site plan and building permit phases. DNC Architects is designing the property.
Monument Innovation Center is slated to break ground in the second quarter of 2022 with completion anticipated for mid-2023.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
