Article originally published by BioHealth Innovation on March 6, 2023

The Shady Grove Innovation District is a planned mixed-use, transit-served innovation ecosystem of more than 1.3M SF located in Maryland’s premier life sciences cluster.

BXP, formerly Boston Properties, recently unveiled plans at its pre-application community meeting to develop the Shady Grove Innovation District (“SGID”), a world-class, amenity-rich, mixed-use district catering to the dynamic life science industry in the heart of the Shady Grove cluster in Rockville, Maryland. SGID will initially include 150,000 square feet of lab/R&D space in a five-story building and 315 luxury apartments. The district has the potential to grow to more than 1.3M square feet of lab/R&D space across a total of nine buildings. Construction could begin as early as mid-2024.

BXP seeks to create a buzzing community of innovators at SGID in a more urbanized environment than has traditionally been available to life science companies along the I-270 corridor in Montgomery County, Md. The project will be served by a new bus rapid transit line on Shady Grove Road providing a short, two-stop trip to the Shady Grove Metro Station. SGID is surrounded by walkable retail offerings, including a new Amazon Fresh, Mom’s Organic Market, CVS, CAVA, Firehouse Subs, and many others, as well as lifestyle amenities, such as the 24+ acre Mattie J. Stepanek Park and two crosstown routes in the Rockville Bikeway Master Plan. On site, SGID will offer a two-acre central park and plaza space, and a landscaped, activated network of pedestrian paths.

“We have spent a lot of time studying innovation districts and the key ingredients that make for a successful innovation community,” said C.J. Overly, senior project manager at BXP, during the meeting. “One of those ingredients is the physical infrastructure that fosters collaboration and connection.”

The lab buildings at SGID will be built to support BSL Category-2 functions and have an 18-foot slab-to-slab height on the ground floor and 15-foot heights on upper levels. In addition, two of the buildings have been conceptually designed to include a larger ground floor area and a removable second-floor slab to enable greater than 26-foot ceiling heights for a biomanufacturing use. All lab buildings will be targeting a LEED Gold standard for sustainability and be served by convenient adjacent parking.

About Shady Grove Innovation District (SGID)

The Shady Grove Innovation District (“SGID”) will be a world-class, amenity-rich, mixed-use district catering to the dynamic life science industry in the heart of the Shady Grove cluster in Rockville, Maryland. SGID will feature 1.3M SF+ of new lab/office space and 315 luxury apartments set in a new, walkable urban environment. Learn more at  https://www.sgidmd.com/