Groundbreaking Today on Addition to Discovery District

Corporate Office Properties Trust in partnership with the University of Maryland will break ground today on a 105,000-square-foot office building in the latest addition to UMD’s Discovery District, the epicenter of academic, research and economic development in Greater College Park.

The fourth building in a joint venture between COPT and UMD will be located at 4600 River Road and will have four stories of Class A office space and on-site parking. It will be minutes away from a Green Line Metro station and a future Purple Line station.

Cybrary, a technology education company that provides free and low-cost technology education for individuals and organizations, will be the anchor tenant, occupying the top floor. The company currently is housed in COPT’s neighboring building at 5801 University Research Court.

”We are very pleased to participate in this, our fourth, development with UMD. Clearly, UMD is a leading force of progress in creating technology opportunities in the state of Maryland. This development enriches the university, the College Park community and the entire state of Maryland,” said Paul Adkins, COPT’s chief operating officer.

The public-private partnership between the university and private companies encompasses 150 acres dedicated to research and innovation. COPT’s existing portfolio within College Park consists of three buildings totaling 320,000 square feet of Class A office space. COPT’s current tenants in the Discovery District include federal agencies, the University of Maryland, and private technology and cyber companies.

“Our partnership with COPT has provided a home for dozens of innovative companies and organizations right here in Greater College Park,” said Ken Ulman, UMD’s chief strategy officer for economic development. “We are working hard to make College Park the greatest college town it can be, and that involves attracting and retaining high-caliber companies in our community. The Discovery District has access to a highly educated workforce pipeline and numerous research partnerships with UMD’s premier students and faculty.”

The Discovery District is largely made up of leading research organizations, and features a pop-up park with food trucks, creative seating areas, trails and art installations, with access to the amenities of the new Riverdale Park Station with its mix of housing, retail and other amenities. The location, which contains about 1.5 million square feet of office and flex research and development space, plans to expand to over 3 million square feet of office space in the next several years.