FREDERICK, MD (April 15, 2024) – Clinical development company Precision for Medicine, LLC has signed renewal and expansion leases for over 116,000 square feet with St. John Properties, Inc. at Riverside Tech Park in Frederick, Maryland. The Bethesda, Maryland based group operates facilities globally.
Precision for Medicine and its predecessors have leased space from St. John Properties in Frederick since 1999. The company has housed its repository operations associated with the company’s clinical trials, patient biology, and manufacturing services at 8425 Precision Way within Riverside Tech Park since 2006, and currently occupies the entire 75,000 square foot flex/R&D building. To accommodate business growth and overall corporate expansion, Precision for Medicine intends to occupy 41,040 square feet at 8440 Broadband Drive, a new 52,080 square foot flex/R&D building, for additional office and laboratory space.
In January 2024, St. John Properties completed construction of two new flex/R&D buildings. 8440 and 8450 and Broadband Drive, which combine for approximately 103,000 square feet and represent the conclusion of construction at the business community. Upon delivery this fall, the company will have developed 14 buildings totaling more than 750,000 square feet of space at the business park, where the existing building occupancy rate is currently 96%.
Located within the I-270 Technology Corridor, Riverside Tech Park is a 70-acre business and R&D community developed by St. John Properties. The business community is adjacent to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research and within two miles of Fort Detrick, home to U.S Army Medical Research and Development Command which is recognized as a leading medical research center for the U.S. Biological Defense Research Program. According to the Frederick County Office of Economic Development (OED), more than 130 biotechnology and life science companies are situated within the I-270 Technology Corridor, Statistics published by the OED indicate that Frederick is the number one area in the country for NIH Research and Development contract awards, professional and technical workers, and concentration of employed doctoral scientists. OED also states that “Maryland is located within a two-hour drive from 80% of the United States pharmaceutical industry.”
Riverside Tech Park is also within a mile from the recently expanded Frederick Municipal Airport (considered the second busiest general aviation airport in Maryland), two miles from I-70, three miles from I-270; 35 miles to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH); 40 miles from Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and within an hour’s drive to Dulles International, Baltimore-Washington International and Reagan National Airports.
“Life science companies such as Precision for Medicine remain among the leading economic drivers in Frederick and throughout the I-270 Corridor, and we are fortunate to have many such clients in our Maryland portfolio, which takes advantage of a strategic location and access to a highly-trained workforce,” stated Matt Holbrook, St. John Properties Regional Partner for Virginia and Central Maryland.
“Our Frederick-area portfolio is experiencing tremendous momentum, and we continue to speculatively construct best-in-class buildings to meet the sustained demand for our signature flex/R&D asset class. The combination of exceptional research facilities, targeted sources of financial investment, and an unprecedented and highly-educated workforce will assure the continuation of this activity in the life science industry for the foreseeable future.” Regarding the relationship between the two firms, Holbrook stated that “the St. John Properties’ team has been proud to support the great work of Precision for Medicine over the past 25 years and we look forward to our exciting future together.”
“Precision for Medicine is a top employer in The City of Frederick, and I am delighted with their decision to grow operations here at Riverside Tech Park in buildings owned by St. John Properties,” stated Richard Griffin, Director of Economic Development for the City of Frederick. “Precision’s mission to accelerate clinical R&D through the combined power of trials, labs, and data science is of great importance to global health and Frederick’s life science cluster. Both Precision and St. John Properties have delivered critical business investment, tax base, and jobs here in the City.”
Founded in 1971, St. John Properties, Inc. is one of the nation’s largest and most successful privately held commercial real estate firms. The company is distinguished by its commitment to customer service, achievements in green building, and top-rated workplace culture. Throughout St. John Properties’ 53-year history, the company has developed more than 24 million square feet of flex/R&D, office, retail, and warehouse space and has investments in over 3,000 residential units. The company proudly serves more than 2,600 clients in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Utah, and Wisconsin. For more information about the company, visit www.sjpi.com.