By Megan SaylesAFRO Enterprise Writermsayles@afro.com
Montgomery County not too long ago introduced a $100-million cope with United Therapeutics, a biotechnology public profit company, that may pave the best way for financial progress in downtown Silver Spring, Md.
As a part of the partnership, United Therapeutics will construct a brand new public parking storage on Georgia Avenue, provide land and funding to Montgomery County for a state-of-the-art fiber hub and relocate the transportation division’s parking operations to a renovated facility on Brookville Street. The brand new parking storage will embrace house designated for future growth of reasonably priced housing in Silver Spring.
“When this factor builds out, it’s going to offer plenty of job alternatives. It’s going to be one more reason for folks to take a look at Silver Spring as a possible location for all times science jobs,” County Govt Marc Elrich instructed the AFRO. “We’ve received a wholesome cluster between Bethesda and the Nice Seneca Hall up by Shady Grove, however we’ve not had the identical stage of exercise on the East aspect of the county. Silver Spring being proper on the metro line is a perfect location to start out constructing a hub round.”
Montgomery County is acknowledged as a number one life sciences and biotechnology hub. This partnership allows the county to construct on this fame. Underneath the settlement, as soon as United Therapeutics constructs the brand new parking storage, the county will take over as proprietor. In return, United Therapeutics will turn out to be proprietor of the Spring Cameron Storage to accommodate its future progress.
Montgomery County’s relationship with United Therapeutics dates again to 2002 when it first offered land to the biotechnology firm for its headquarter’s development in Silver Spring. In 2015, the county once more offered land to United Therapeutics for its Unisphere undertaking, the world’s largest net-zero power workplace constructing.
“Since our founding nearly 30 years in the past, we have now been honored to be a part of the downtown Silver Spring group,” mentioned Thomas Kaufman, affiliate vice chairman of company actual property for United Therapeutics in a press release. “Montgomery County has been a key accomplice in supporting our progress throughout that point, and this settlement will permit us to proceed our progress and help Silver Spring for years to come back.”
Whereas this partnership is predicted to advance downtown Silver Spring, Elrich mentioned infrastructure challenges stay a hindrance to the county’s total financial progress.
“The largest problem the county faces is an absence of infrastructure,” mentioned Elrich.
He defined that Maryland’s tax system doesn’t permit Montgomery County to levy the identical quantity of growth affect charges that Virginia counties can. These costs are imposed on the non-public new industrial and residential developments to be able to fund infrastructure enhancements made needed by the event.
“Should you look to Northern Virginia, you understand that they’ve received 30 to 40 cents above their base tax price that’s levied on the non-public sector builders for development of transportation tasks. That cash is walled off as a result of they received authority from the state to have these particular taxes to construct transportation,” mentioned Elrich. “Montgomery County has none of that.”
He needs the state of Maryland to allow Montgomery County to mannequin its tax system off of localities in Northern Virginia.
“You hear all of this, ‘Have a look at Virginia this, and have a look at Virginia that.’ Conveniently, not one of the individuals who level that out inform you that they tax the non-public sector excess of we do. They concentrate on earnings tax, and I’m trying on the tax on precise growth, which generates a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} that we may entry within the county,” mentioned Elrich. “We try to mannequin a tax system primarily based on what they do in Northern Virginia so we are able to keep aggressive.”
Megan Sayles is a Report For America corps member.
