Spring Break
John G. Rangos building to host Institute of Basic Biomedical Science
Issue date: 4/17/08
Almost two years after breaking ground, developers officially opened the John G. Rangos building in Middle East Baltimore Friday in a ceremony brimming with prominent politicians, Hopkins administrators and development coordinators.
The nearly 300,000-square-foot building is the first structure in the Science and Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, part of a larger effort to revitalize Middle East Baltimore neighborhood that has relocated nearly 400 residents from their homes through construction.
"Our neighbors here have been collectively trying their best day in and day out to make their community strong, safe and healthy. We want to honor that legacy," said Jack Shannon, president of East Baltimore Development Inc. (EBDI).
Hopkins has leased a third of the building space as the new home for the Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences.
The building was designed with interaction between researchers and industry in mind, according to Institute Director Stephen Desiderio.
The rest of the space will be leased to private biotech companies, three of which have already agreed to move in, while other floors will host business and retail.
Developers boast that this is the first biotech park built in conjunction with a neighborhood transformation.
They see this simultaneous development as a way to "rebuild and strengthen a challenged community in an ethically and socially responsible way," said Scott Levitan, development director for Forest City Science and Technology Group, the developers of the life sciences campus.
But absent from the opening ceremony was Donald Gresham, president of Save Middle East Action Committee (SMEAC). Although he was invited, Gresham did not attend because "I don't want the perception that everything is going well," he said.
Gresham was upset that the invitation-only ceremony was not open to community members, even as developers touted the positive affect development had on their lives.
The nearly 300,000-square-foot building is the first structure in the Science and Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, part of a larger effort to revitalize Middle East Baltimore neighborhood that has relocated nearly 400 residents from their homes through construction.
"Our neighbors here have been collectively trying their best day in and day out to make their community strong, safe and healthy. We want to honor that legacy," said Jack Shannon, president of East Baltimore Development Inc. (EBDI).
Hopkins has leased a third of the building space as the new home for the Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences.
The building was designed with interaction between researchers and industry in mind, according to Institute Director Stephen Desiderio.
The rest of the space will be leased to private biotech companies, three of which have already agreed to move in, while other floors will host business and retail.
Developers boast that this is the first biotech park built in conjunction with a neighborhood transformation.
They see this simultaneous development as a way to "rebuild and strengthen a challenged community in an ethically and socially responsible way," said Scott Levitan, development director for Forest City Science and Technology Group, the developers of the life sciences campus.
But absent from the opening ceremony was Donald Gresham, president of Save Middle East Action Committee (SMEAC). Although he was invited, Gresham did not attend because "I don't want the perception that everything is going well," he said.
Gresham was upset that the invitation-only ceremony was not open to community members, even as developers touted the positive affect development had on their lives.
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