Construction on M-Square slated to begin soon

Construction on the first of three research buildings near the campus is set to begin within a month, after university officials secured a building permit last week.

The research and technology park, called M-Square, is set to become the largest research park in the state. The complex will house a variety of federal tenants near the College Park Metro Station that officials hope will attract millions of dollars for research and top-tier faculty and staff. Once completed, the project could yield a bevy of multi-tenant research centers forming into "clusters of excellence" as tenants work closely on similar research fields, said John Porcari, the university's vice president of administrative affairs.

Although the tenant list has not been finalized, all of the research will be National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-related, such as the Earth and Space Sciences Interdisciplinary Center, he said.

There are three sectors now based on food safety, language and linguistics and weather and climate prediction, but more could be added in the future, Porcari said.

"We are building clusters in areas anchored by large federal and university research areas and bringing in other people who work in similar areas creating a cluster," said Brian Darmody, the university's assistant vice president for research and economic development.

These multi-tenant clusters have the benefit over single tenant buildings, such as the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, because the tenants can "learn from each other and feed off each other," Darmody said.

The new building will be four stories and 120,000 square feet, he said. The outer shell should be completed about nine months after construction begins, said Carlo Colella, director of architecture, engineering and construction. About $25 million has been budgeted for the construction of the building, the first of what could be at least seven other research buildings - probably multi-tenant - in the park, Porcari said.

"The buildings are designed to be very flexible and to accommodate a wide range of research needs," he said. "At the same time, it will be a campus-like environment," including Shuttle-UM service and university police.

When the tenant list for the first building is complete, developers will customize the building to fit its tenants, a project that will take about three to six months, Colella said.

University officials said they expect continuing M-Square development to draw even more research funding, though they added M-Square's purpose is not necessarily to enhance university research but to promote research overall.

"In order to do research we have to have space, and M-Square helps to increase space - although the primary focus of M-Square is not just for university research," Darmody said. "It will increase it somewhat, but it's not going to be the principle focus. We are planning to build more research centers on campus."

The university currently receives $350 million per year for research, mostly from the federal government but also from the state and private sponsors. The university hopes to reach $500 million within the next few years by drawing more research projects, Darmody said.

But while university officials said they were generally excited to see the project moving forward, some city council members said there are still concerns that need to be addressed.

"I was a little disappointed that the earliest developments of M-Square was not as transit-oriented as it could be," said District 3 Councilman Andy Fellows. "They seem to be developing a little too much for cars [because of the number of parking spaces]."

The council's fears of M-Square increasing traffic congestion were temporarily eased because of the park's close proximity to the Metro. But council members said the expanse of parking could deter employees from using the Metro.

"If most people coming to the office arrive by cars, it defeats the purpose of the transit system," Fellows said.

Officials approved a plan Tuesday to widen Kenilworth Avenue to handle the expected influx of traffic that M-Square will likely generate in the long term, Fellows said. The $3 million project will widen the road from four to six lanes for two miles near Pontiac Street and should be completed in 2010, he said.

District 2 Councilman Bob Catlin also echoed the city's recurring concern that the city does not receive enough tax revenue for university projects such as this.

The city will only receive about $20,000 to $30,000 per year from property taxes. But Catlin said the city hopes to receive $500,000 to $1 million a year after a decade of development in and around M-Square. Because the M-Square buildings are government property, they are exempt from property taxes.

But M-Square will still carry plenty of benefits, at the very least for the university community, Porcari said.

"It benefits students because it provides employment opportunities for undergraduates and graduates," he said. "It provides long-term growth in the research facility, which attracts the very best faculty in the world. For a university of this size and caliber, research needs to be one of its strengths, and it is."

Contact reporter Kaitlyn Seith at seithdbk@gmail.com.