Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, County Council President Andrew Friedson and Council Vice President Kate Stewart joined with United Therapeutics Corporation last week to announce a partnership, valued at more than $100 million, for future growth and long-term vision for Downtown Silver Spring. The partnership includes a general development agreement between the County and United Therapeutics that will allow for the company’s future growth in Silver Spring and provide significant benefits to the County.
This deal will eventually expand United Therapeutics’ campus footprint in Downtown Silver Spring by 40 percent.
Under the agreement between the County and United Therapeutics, the first publicly traded biotechnology company organized as a public benefit corporation, United Therapeutics will construct a new public parking garage at 8615 Georgia Ave., provide land and funding to the County for a state-of-the art fiber hub and relocate the County’s Department of Transportation’s (MCDOT) parking operations facility to a renovated facility at 9150 Brookville Road. The site of the new parking garage includes a parcel designated for a future affordable housing development in Silver Spring.
“The partnership and agreement we are announcing today will provide significant benefits to County residents, usher in an era of economic growth in Silver Spring, and further solidify Montgomery County’s leading biotech, life sciences and research economy,” said County Executive Elrich. “United Therapeutics Corporation is revolutionizing healthcare through the development of manufactured organs for transplant. We are committed to the company’s future growth in Silver Spring, and I look forward to working with the County Council through the property disposition process.”
If the agreement is approved by the County Council, upon completion of the new garage, ownership of the site will transfer from United Therapeutics to the County. In exchange, the County will transfer ownership of 8700 Cameron Street, the current site of the Spring Cameron Parking garage, to United Therapeutics to allow for the company’s future growth. United Therapeutics will be required to invest at least $50 million in any new facility on the site within 15 years of ownership transfer.
The property disposition process requires public input and Council approval following a “Declaration of No Further Need” by the County Executive. The disposition process also requires the County to secure full (fair) market value for any County-owned property. More details about disposition process can be found on the County Department of General Services (DGS) Office of Planning and Development’s website.
“Montgomery County’s standing as a global biohealth leader is thanks in no small part to the commitment of United Therapeutics in Silver Spring,” said Council President Friedson. “We are so proud to partner with purpose-driven, forward-looking organizations that are willing to take risks and invest in Montgomery County while advancing lifesaving innovation.”
The County first sold land in Silver Spring to United Therapeutics in 2002 to facilitate construction of its corporate headquarters at 1040 Spring Street. The County again sold a parcel on Spring Street in 2015 to United Therapeutics to facilitate construction of its environmentally sustainable, LEED-certified Unisphere expansion, the world's largest site net zero commercial office building, delivered in 2018.
The site has 230 employees and focuses on biotech, specifically the marketing of therapeutics to treat rare diseases and the research and development of manufactured organs for transplant to help patients with end stage organ diseases. The company has had immense growth, with revenues of nearly $2 billion in 2022 and average annual revenue growth above 20 percent since its first commercial sale in 2002.
“Since our founding almost 30 years ago, we have been honored to be part of the downtown Silver Spring community,” said Thomas Kaufman, the associate vice president for corporate real estate at United Therapeutics. “Montgomery County has been a key partner in supporting our growth during that time, and this agreement will allow us to continue our growth and support for Silver Spring for years to come.”
The deal is sure to have impact well-beyond Montgomery County.
“Maryland has long been a leader in critical research and development, “said U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen. “This agreement will expand our innovation economy while spurring jobs, growth and investment in Silver Spring. This is great news for the community, the County and our State.”
The proposed agreement will allow for the company’s future growth at its urban campus in Downtown Silver Spring and provide the County with significant public benefits including:
- Further solidifying the County’s commitment to growing its bio-health economy by providing United Therapeutics the flexibility for future growth as it continues to advance its mission to develop an unlimited supply of tolerable, transplantable organs at its co-headquarters in Silver Spring.
- Ensuring that United Therapeutics continues to grow from its current 230 full-time employees in Downtown Silver Spring and expand its significant contributions to Montgomery County and the State of Maryland’s bio health economy and ecosystem.
- A new parking garage in the heart of Silver Spring along Georgia Avenue, located just north of Colesville Road at 8615 Georgia Ave.
- Approximately 3,000 square feet of new retail space area on the ground floor of the new parking garage along Georgia Avenue.
- Land designated for a future affordable housing development in Downtown Silver Spring.
- A new state-of-the-art, fiber hub for the County Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions.
- A new 20,000-square-foot parking operations service facility for MCDOT in a more centralized location relative to the three main parking lot districts in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Bethesda. The new site includes an additional 17,000 square feet to accommodate future MCDOT needs, and a 5,000-square-foot renovated and enclosed building for equipment and field vehicle storage.
