The Search Is On For Who Will Develop Maryland’s Next Big Life Sciences District
An initiative to build a life sciences-anchored mixed-use district in North Bethesda kicked off Monday, with officials launching a search for a developer to execute the 14-acre vision.
Officials from Montgomery County and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority released a memorandum of understanding and a request for qualifications for the development of WMATA-owned land next to the North Bethesda Metro Station.
The site is envisioned to include between 2M SF and 3.7M SF of office, retail, housing and public spaces, anchored by a life sciences facility for the University of Maryland’s newly formed Institute for Health Computing.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke signed the MOU Monday, and they were joined at the announcement event by local and state officials — including both of Maryland's U.S. senators.
WMATA is looking for a developer that has experience with large-scale, transit-oriented development, life sciences projects, mixed-use developments and public-private partnerships. The plan is to choose the developer this year and proceed with a joint development agreement. The selected developer would be tasked with designing, entitling, financing and constructing the project.
Elrich said in a release the property has “generated an incredible amount of interest” and that he expects “a lot of world-class development companies” bidding to execute the vision.
UMD and Montgomery County signed an MOU in 2022 for the project. It outlined the scope of the new institute — which will focus on studying and deploying artificial intelligence, machine learning and clinical analytics in healthcare — and the intended funding commitments from both parties. The size of the university facility isn't yet clear.
For the development as a whole, Montgomery County has secured $37M in local, state and federal funding for infrastructure, the release said. That includes funds for streets, and utilities, public spaces and transit improvements.
The new mixed-use district will also come with a new entrance to the North Bethesda Metro station. At Monday’s event, Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin unveiled a $5M check to help fund preliminary work on the entrance. County officials are seeking an additional $25M from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the entrance.
“In just a few years, the North Bethesda Metro station will become the epicenter of the region’s life science community — rarely has our region seen such a valuable placemaking opportunity for development,” Elrich said in the release.
“By transforming the North Bethesda Metro Station area into a premier life sciences and mixed-use development, we are creating jobs, stimulating our local economy, and fostering a vibrant community where people can live, work, learn, and innovate,” he added.
Suburban Maryland, one of the top national hubs for life sciences, hasn’t suffered from post-pandemic vacancy to the same extent as some of its peer markets like Boston and San Diego, in part because it didn't have as much life sciences construction built on spec. The region was tied with New Jersey for the market with the lowest vacancy rate in Colliers’ 2024 life sciences report.
But industry executives told Bisnow in February there was still little appetite to build life sciences development in the submarket as venture capital funding has slowed and interest rates remain elevated.
This isn’t the first joint development partnership WMATA has executed at the North Bethesda station. The transit authority entered into an agreement with LCOR in 2001, which has so far produced three residential buildings — with a fourth in the works — and 63K SF of retail and 362K SF of office, a building that serves as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s headquarters.
