Construction Update on 200,000 SF Building Being Constructed On Darnestown Road

MCS Staff May 3, 2022 at 7:45am

A nearly 200,000-square foot building with a five-level parking garage containing up to 562 spaces is currently being constructed for Research and Development use off at 9810 Darnestown Rd next to the Travilah Square shopping center. The first tenant has been announced and update photos and a rendering of the completed building can be seen below.

Building A will be the first of three buildings planned for Parcel N (shown in the images below). Together, these buildings will form a research and development campus that coordinates effectively with the current life sciences campus.

Building A is currently being constructed on Darnestown Road on the northwestern portion of the property. As the first building to be constructed on Parcel N, Building A will be accessed by the existing Loop Driveway that links both Parcels M and N to Darnestown Road and Traville Gateway Drive to the north and east, respectively. This access configuration will ultimately allow for improved campus circulation when the northern portion of the Loop Driveway is eliminated and the intersection is provided to the Great Seneca Highway extension.

The building will have five floors above grade and a maximum building height of 100 feet. The interior of the building will be constructed with higher ceiling heights (when compared to conventional office uses) and other design elements to accommodate specialized equipment used by R&D tenants. The exterior of the building will feature materials and design elements that create visual interest, particularly on the building’s prominent western elevation facing Traville Gateway Drive and the north elevation facing Darnestown Road.

Per planning documents, a unified sequence of open spaces in front of the building will consist of a landscaped area and a formal plaza, which will also serve as a vehicular drop-off area. The site design will create a pleasant and safe pedestrian environment and will facilitate easy access between the parking garage and building.

Parking Garage P1, located to the south and west of Building A, will have five levels and will provide up to 562 parking spaces. The glass stairwell at the corner of the parking structure serves as a terminus of the open space in front of the building and will provide direct access into the building via internal sidewalks.

The Property is within walking distance of the Universities at Shady Grove (to the east), the Shady Gove Adventist Hospital (to the northeast) and several ARE research and development holdings along Medical Center Drive (to the north). Located to the east and southeast of the Property are residential neighborhoods that were developed under the MXN Zone, PD -3 (Planned Development) Zone, the R- 200/TDR and RT-10 Zones. The Travilah Road corridor contains several small commercial areas developed under the C-1, C-2 and C-4 Zones, as well as some special exceptions. (See Figure 1)

The Property currently consists of three office buildings (Buildings 1A, 1B, and 1C), one structured parking garage (Parking Garage 1), and two surface parking facilities on Parcel M. On Parcel N, the undeveloped portion of the Site, there are two surface parking facilities and a continuation of the Loop Driveway that provides access to both Parcels M and N. Both Parcels M and N contain environmental buffers and are improved with the Loop Driveway and SWM facilities. (Figures 2 & 3)