Shoppers Food & Pharmacy will move its headquarters from Lanham to the Maryland Science and Technology Center in Bowie this October. Shoppers will occupy 25,000 square feet of office space in the Melford Plaza II building (pictured to the left), and the company will also occupy another 2,520 square feet of space on Telsa Drive.Maryland Science and Technology developer St. John Properties has struggled to fill the Melford Plaza II building. St. John Properties offered additional commissions and incentives to brokers for showing and leasing space in Melford Plaza II as early as March, 2009, - 17 months before the Shoppers announcement. Shoppers will be one of the first tenants in the building.
According to St. John Properties, three Marriott hotels are planned for the Maryland Science and Technology site.
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i could be behind the 8-ball here, but when did the city(?) lift the restrictions on tenants at the science & tech center for only educational or scientific uses?
ReplyDeleteJello, My understanding is that covenants were in place to bring high quality jobs to Bowie, and there were some areas known as "flex space" were some of the covenants were more relaxed. The developer agreed to the covenants, so there may have been some financial incentive provided to the developer. I'm not sure. The developer violated the covenants by leasing to certain parties - the most well known being the C&C Dance Club. The City stood their ground, which was not popular with some residents. The City sued the developer. The covenants were readdressed in 2009, and the lawsuits against the developer were dropped. You can read more about the 2009 action by clicking here.
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