Montgomery County and United Therapeutics,  the first publicly traded biotechnology company organized as a public benefit corporation, have entered into a general development agreement (GDA) that will allow for the company’s future growth in Silver Spring and provide significant benefits to the County.

Under the GDA, United Therapeutics will secure land and construct a new public parking garage at 8615 Georgia Avenue, provide land and funding to the County for a state-of-the art fiber hub, and relocate Montgomery County’s Department to Transportation’s (MCDOT) parking operations facility to a renovated facility at 9150 Brookville Road.

Significantly, the site of the new parking garage includes a parcel designated for a future affordable housing development in Silver Spring.

If approved by the Montgomery County Council, upon completion of the new garage, ownership of the site will transfer from United Therapeutics to the County and 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 fifteen years of ownership transfer.

The proposed agreement between Montgomery County and United Therapeutics Corporation will allow for the company’s expansion at its urban campus in downtown Silver Spring and provide the County with significant public benefits, including:

1. Further solidifying Montgomery County’s commitment to growing its biohealth economy, and its important treatments and technologies for patients with chronic and life-threatening diseases around the world, by providing United Therapeutics the flexibility for future growth as it continues to advance its mission to address rare, underserved diseases at its co-headquarters in Silver Spring.
2. 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. 
3. A new parking garage in the heart of Silver Spring along Georgia Avenue just north of Colesville Road at 8615 Georgia Avenue.
4. Approximately 3,000 square feet (SF) of new retail space area on the ground floor of the new parking garage along Georgia Avenue.
5. Land designated for a future affordable housing development in Downtown Silver Spring.
6. A new state-of-the-art, fiber hub for the Montgomery County Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions.
7. A new 20,000 SF parking operations service facility for MCDOT in more centralized location relative to the three main parking lot sectors in Silver Spring, Wheaton, and Bethesda. The new site includes an additional 17,000 SF to accommodate future MCDOT needs, and a 5,000 SF renovated and enclosed building for equipment and field vehicle storage.