Science and Technology Park at Johns Hopkins

Press Releases List

Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins provides over a million square feet of office and state-of-the-art facilities including chemistry and biology labs and GMP and NMR facilities.

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<h5><a href="https://mdbiznews.commerce.maryland.gov/author/juliemiller/" target="_blank">MDBIZNEWS – JULIE MILLER · <time datetime="2017-03-31T11:48:29+00:00">MARCH 31, 2017</time></a></h5>

WalletHub recently analyzed innovation nationwide to compile a list of the <a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/most-innovative-states/31890/" target="_blank">Most Innovative States</a>. Maryland ranks second among the 50 states and Washington D.C. in WalletHub’s report, reinforcing what many in Maryland already know: Innovation thrives here. Here are five reasons why innovation flourishes in Maryland.

<h3>1. WORKFORCE</h3>

Maryland has the highest percentage of professional and technical workers. This workforce fills local STEM positions that drive technical and scientific advances globally. Maryland also has the nation’s highest concentration of employed doctoral scientists and engineers, fueling <a href="https://open.commerce.maryland.gov/biohealth-technology/">life science and bio health innovation</a> in Maryland.

<h3>2. RESEARCH &amp; DEVELOPMENT</h3>

WalletHub’s research puts Maryland in third place in its rank of R&amp;D spending per capita. When it comes to federal obligations for R&amp;D, Maryland ranks higher than any other state. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Johns Hopkins University Applied Research Lab are just two of Maryland’s 350 research centers that regularly introduce new research and technologies.

<h3>3. SHARE OF TECH COMPANIES</h3>

<a href="https://open.commerce.maryland.gov/it-and-cybersecurity/" target="_blank">Maryland is dense with IT companies</a>, putting it as the second highest share of technology companies in WalletHub’s analysis. Together, Maryland’s 11,280 information technology businesses create an innovation hub. In addition to supporting the private sector, these tech companies drive innovation among the federal government, and annually secure $9.74 billion in federal contracts.

<h3>4. RESOURCES</h3>

Home to <a href="http://commerce.maryland.gov/move/find-a-location/incubators">30 incubators</a> and several <a href="http://commerce.maryland.gov/move/find-a-location/research-parks">research parks</a>, Maryland offers entrepreneurs affordable facilities and puts a wealth of resources and opportunities at their fingertips. State-backed <a href="http://tedco.md/" target="_blank">TEDCO</a> also provides assistance and seed funding to Maryland startups through a variety of programs.

<h3>5. LOCATION</h3>

Washington D.C., a hotbed of innovation itself, is a good neighbor to have. Maryland companies can easily collaborate with D.C.-based companies, as well as the federal agencies based in the nation’s capital. Additionally, Maryland’s central location on the East Coast makes it easy for entrepreneurs to access key cities, like New York, Philadelphia and Boston.

Innovation is helping build momentum for business in Maryland. On May 18, this momentum will be celebrated at the <a href="https://marylandbusinesssummit.com/">Maryland Governor’s Business Summit</a>. Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with business leaders, while hearing ideas that will inspire you and recharge your business. <a href="https://marylandbusinesssummit.com/">Sign up today!</a>

INNOVATION THRIVES IN MARYLAND – 5 REASONS WHY

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The 1812 Ashland building in Baltimore’s Eager Park neighborhood, near Johns Hopkins University’s East Baltimore campus, marked its official opening with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.  Known as 1812 Ashland Avenue, the building will be occupied with a 30,000-square-foot expansion of Johns Hopkins University’s FastForward business incubator and 40,000-square-feet of medical research laboratory space including JH Genomics, the gene sequencing lab. On the ground floor, one of six new “Starbucks Opportunity Cafes” in the U.S. will soon open as part of a new concept by the java giant to teach job and workforce skills to inner city youth.

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During a dedication ceremony, the focus of new jobs, job training and life sciences was highlighted.  “We’re delivering on the promises in East Baltimore,” said Scott Levitan, a senior vice president at Forest City New East Baltimore Partnership, the master developer for the $1.8 billion EBDI project that stretches across 88 acres just north of Johns Hopkins Hospital. “In just six months, you’ll see a dramatic change.” he noted.   A new Marriott Residence Inn is under construction next door to the hospital. It is expected to open in a year and will be tied to Hopkins’ patients. A new public park, Eager Park, is also being built with state, city and private funds to encompass a portion of three blocks   About 50 new townhomes are under construction at EBDI, most of them purchased for about $280,000 each in a pre-construction sale by Hopkins employees at a recent auction using a $36,000 employer incentive.

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The FastForward program, designed by Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures to move academic findings through translational research into the commercial marketplace, was introduced to East Baltimore in early 2015 with FastForward East, a 6,000-square-foot space in the Rangos Building.  Within months, all of FastForward East’s offices and lab benches had been rented.

The new FastForward space on Ashland Avenue, FastForward 1812, is scheduled to open in early 2017. FastForward 1812 will nearly quadruple the space dedicated to growing startups in East Baltimore, adding 8,000 square feet of office and co-working space and 15,000 square feet of wet lab space.

“The building’s ‘celebrity’ tenant, the innovation hub, allows Johns Hopkins to do what we do best: innovate.  Innovation leads to commercialization, which leads to job creation.” said Ronald R. Peterson, president of the Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Added JHU President Ronald J. Daniels: “We are celebrating not just a building, but a future.”

The opening of the next office building at the Science Park is a sign of growing momentum in a larger redevelopment that has been in the works for more than 15 years. EBDI has resulted in over $200 million worth of construction contracts awarded for projects that also include a Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene building, housing for students and others, the Henderson-Hopkins School, a parking garage and offices, noted Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

To learn more about the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins please visit: <a href="http://www.scienceparkjohnshopkins.net/" target="_blank">ScienceParkJohnsHopkins.net</a>

Momentum Grows Around Eager Park With 1812 Ashland Ribbon Cutting

For Immediate Release Contact <a href="mailto:mktgcomm@tams.com">mktgcomm@tams.com</a>

​April 27, 2017

<h2>Toshiba Medical’s Next-Generation MRI System Installed in Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins</h2>

TUSTIN, Calif., April 27, 2017 – <a href="https://medical.toshiba.com/">Toshiba Medical</a>’s <a href="https://medical.toshiba.com/products/magnetic-resonance/vantage-galan-3t/">Vantage GalanTM 3T</a> MR system has been installed in a new research facility, named “CAIRS” (Center for Advanced Imaging Research and Science), as part of the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md. A ribbon cutting opening ceremony was held at the newly opened center.



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With the installation of the Vantage Galan 3T at the new center, Toshiba Medical and its academic collaborators will be able to create unique healthcare solutions using Toshiba Medical’s premium MR system.

“Toshiba Medical is honored to have our most advanced 3T MR system installed at the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins,” said Shelton D. Caruthers, Ph.D., director of MR, Toshiba Medical Research Institute USA, Inc. “True to our ‘Made for Life’ philosophy, we will focus on the delivery of future products that incorporate patients’ needs and will provide medical professionals with new clinical value. MR will continue to grow as a key technology in healthcare and our goal is to develop world-class MR systems together with our partners such as Johns Hopkins that help improve the lives of people everywhere.”

About Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.

Toshiba America Medical Systems, a Canon Group company headquartered in Tustin, Calif., markets, sells, distributes and services radiology and cardiovascular systems, including CT, MR, ultrasound, X-ray and interventional X-ray equipment. For more information, visit Toshiba Medical’s website at <a href="http://www.medical.toshiba.com/">www.medical.toshiba.com</a>.

About Toshiba Medical

Toshiba Medical offers a full range of diagnostic medical imaging solutions including Ultrasound, CT, X-Ray, and MR, across the globe. As of December 2016, Toshiba Medical became a member of the Canon Group. In line with our continued Made for Life philosophy, patients are at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to provide medical professionals with solutions that support their efforts in contributing to the health and wellbeing of patients worldwide so that together our industry-leading solutions deliver an enriched quality of life.

Toshiba Medical’s Next-Generation MRI System Installed in Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins

East Baltimore Development Inc. is requesting proposals from qualified Developers and Home Builders to renovate, construct and sell for owner occupancy vacant row house properties and seven (7) vacant land parcels, together known as the Madeira Street Project within the East Baltimore Development Project area. <a href="http://www.ebdi.org/">View RFP for more information</a> here.

A Pre-Proposal Information Session and Site Visit will be held on April 14, 2017 at 11 AM. EBDI 1731 E. Chase Street, Baltimore, MD  21213. Final Proposal are due to EBDI by June 30, 2017 at 3PM. NO SOLICITATION SHALL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 3:00 PM ON SUBMISSION DATE. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY. For questions/clarifications related to the content of this RFP document and the development site, please feel free to contact:

Karen Major Johnson 
Sr. Director of Community and Human Development 
East Baltimore Development, Inc. 
1731 E. Chase Street 
Baltimore, MD 21213 
410.234.0660 extension 275 
<a href="mailto:Karen.Johnson@ebdi.org">Karen.Johnson@ebdi.org</a>

East Baltimore Development Inc Madeira Street Project RFP

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Forest City – New East Baltimore Partnership (“FC-NEBP”) and Toshiba Medical Research Institute USA, Inc. (“Toshiba Medical”) announced that they have executed a lease to construct a medical research center at 1812 Ashland Avenue, the newest building in the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins.  When it opens, the Toshiba Medical  research center will showcase next-generation technology that will offer a unique opportunity at the Johns Hopkins East Baltimore Medical Campus to collaborate with researchers seeking the most advanced imaging capacity in the world.

Discussions began in 2014 among the leadership of Toshiba Medical and Johns Hopkins University to expand research in medical imaging and big data analysis applicable to ongoing research at the University.  Close coordination between Johns Hopkins and Toshiba leadership led to a ceremony held in Baltimore in 2015 to conclude the agreement.  The ceremony included the Japanese tradition during which eyes are painted onto a Darumi figure to signify the vision for the alliance.

Dr. Joao Lima, professor of medicine, radiology and epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Director of Cardiovascular Imaging at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, will lead the collaboration for Johns Hopkins.

Helen Montag, Senior Director for Business Development &amp; Corporate Partnerships for Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures played a key role in attracting Toshiba to East Baltimore.  “Establishing industry relationships that expand research opportunities for faculty is a top priority at Johns Hopkins,” says Montag. “We look forward to working with Toshiba in the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins.”

Hisashi Tachizaki, Vice President and General Manager of Center for Medical Research and Development of Toshiba Medical, who helped the collaborative research agreement that includes Toshiba Medical’s multi-million dollar investment to be located in 1812 Ashland Avenue says, “This opportunity in the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins is based on a long-standing relationship that we are enthusiastic about continuing.”

For entire press release,<a href="http://www.scienceparkjohnshopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Toshiba-announcement.pdf" target="_blank"> click here</a>.

TOSHIBA MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE EXECUTES LEASE

Baltimore, Maryland – 19 May 2017

Forest City – New East Baltimore Partnership (“FC-NEBP”) and Rapafusyn Pharmaceuticals (“Rapafusyn”) announced today that they have executed a lease at 855 N. Wolfe Street to accommodate Rapafusyn’s growth and expansion in Baltimore City. Rapafusyn is an emerging pharmaceutical development start-up company that licenses technology related to a class of natural product-like macrocycles from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences.

John Marquardt, President and CEO of Rapafusyn, expressed excitement about moving into the 7,935 square foot space in East Baltimore when it is completed in fall 2017. “We sought this space to allow close collaboration between our growing company and its ongoing research at Johns Hopkins. The amenities of the Eager Park community and proximity of the new lab to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine made this the best choice for Rapafusyn’s growing business.”

Rapafusyn’s decision to lease space in Baltimore aligns with Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures’ mission to support and grow startups in the City. JHTV has significantly expanded its focus on growing and retaining companies in Baltimore. Its FastForward enterprise in the Science &amp; Technology Park at Johns Hopkins offers a nurturing and supportive environment for emerging companies to remain and prosper in the City.

To accommodate Rapafusyn’s expansion, Forest City – New East Baltimore Partnership will relocate its offices to the adjacent Suite 100 in 855 N. Wolfe Street. Scott Levitan, FCNEBP’s Vice President and Development Director for the Baltimore initiative said, “Moving offices can be challenging, but we are eager to make the move to accommodate the growth of biotech companies in Baltimore. Our success will be confirmed when there is no space left for us in the Science &amp; Technology Park at Johns Hopkins!”

Matthew Seward and Bronwyn Legette of Cushman &amp; Wakefield negotiated the transaction on behalf of the Parties.



For more information visit: <a href="https://ventures.jhu.edu/tag/rapafusyn/">Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures</a>

Rapafusyn Pharmaceuticals Executes Lease in the Science & Technology Park at Johns Hopkins

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When Keshia Thomas looks at the neighborhood surrounding the new Starbucks she manages in East Baltimore, she sees what she calls “rough patches.” There are few places to shop other than a couple of corner stores. It’s an area associated with low-income housing and a shortage of economic and educational opportunities.

Thomas grew up in West Baltimore, where she saw the same kind of challenges the community around the Ashland store confronts.  She has lived and worked in the city throughout her life, and also sees something else surrounding the store (opening Friday, March 17) at 1812 Ashland Avenue: promise.

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The Dunbar-Broadway neighborhood near the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions campus is the site of a revitalization project that will include 2,100 units of mixed-income housing. The Ashland Avenue Starbucks is in the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, a more than one-million-square-foot corporate research campus completed last summer. The office, lab and retail spaces on the campus, as well as new housing, are transforming the area. Thomas hopes the new Starbucks store can provide a point of connection between longtime residents and newcomers to the neighborhood.

“I’m very excited that Starbucks has decided to open here,” said Thomas, who was managing a store in the Canton neighborhood east of downtown Baltimore before she was selected to take on management of the new store. “I think Starbucks brings hope to the whole community and it can bridge the old and the new.”

Despite the winter storm Stella hitting the Northeast this week, the store welcomed more than 75 guests, including Baltimore City Council President Jack Young and fellow council members Shannon Sneed and Robert Stokes.

The 1812 Ashland Avenue store is the fifth opened as part of a national initiative launched in 2015 to bring Starbucks stores to 15 diverse low- to medium-income communities by 2018. Similar stores designed to create job opportunities for youth and support economic development have opened in Ferguson, Missouri; Phoenix; the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York; and Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. Others will open in Birmingham, Alabama; Long Beach, California; Miami and Seattle later this year.

These stores aim to strengthen local economies by creating jobs, working with minority-owned businesses and providing job training spaces for nonprofits to engage with local youth. The Ashland Avenue store was built by a local minority-owned contractor, the Commercial Construction Group, and will serve Midnite Cupcakes, which are supplied by a local business, <a href="https://news.starbucks.com/news/baltimore-starbucks-showcases-treats-from-local-cupcake-shop">Midnite Confection’s Cupcakery</a>, owned by entrepreneur Sandra McNeil.

“Commercial Construction has enjoyed a very successful partnership with Starbucks and their talented team,” said Kevin Johnson, chief executive officer of Commercial Construction. “Our companies share a corporate culture to enhance the human experience by nurturing and inspiring people. We strive for excellence in providing the highest quality product and customer service.”

The store employs 17 people, including two who have come through The Choice Program, an initiative of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, which will offer instruction, professional experience and opportunities for personal and career development to local youth in the store’s onsite training space.

<h3> A COMMITMENT TO BALTIMORE’S YOUNG PEOPLE</h3>

In Baltimore, one in five young people are not working or in school. Baltimore has one of the nation’s highest percentages of opportunity youth (youth between 16-24 who are disconnected from school and work). Nationally it’s estimated that 5.4 million, or one in seven, young people fall into the opportunity youth category. In addition to opening stores in 15 communities to help create pathways to success for these individuals, Starbucks helped create the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative, the nation’s largest employer-led coalition committed to supporting opportunity youth as they prepare for and secure employment. The coalition, formed in July 2015, met its original 100,000 hiring target in August 2016 and has set a new target of one million opportunities by 2021.

Starbucks efforts in East Baltimore have been hailed by local leaders as an important step in revitalizing and reenergizing the community.

“This is just what we need in Baltimore and I am proud to work with Starbucks as we create a new model for economic growth that provides a positive impact on the lives of residents who live in the surrounding communities,” said Mayor Catherine E. Pugh. “We’re also fortunate to have anchor institutions and community partners such as Johns Hopkins University and Health Systems, East Baltimore Development Inc. and Forest City – New East Baltimore Partnership who support and believe in this vision.”

“I welcome Starbucks into the neighborhood, and I applaud them for working with local minority-owned contractors while opening this new location,” said U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland’s 7th District. “I am looking forward to Starbucks leading by example with their commitment to training, developing and employing Baltimore’s young people.”
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NEW STARBUCKS STORE BRINGS OPPORTUNITIES TO EAST BALTIMORE

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Christy Wyskiel, left, who runs Johns Hopkins Technology Venturers, walks through the new incubator space called FastForward at 1812 Ashland Ave. Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun (Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun)

The Johns Hopkins University’s newest business incubator, set to open formally at the end of April, adds more office and lab space to spur the school’s ongoing effort to commercialize research.

FastForward 1812, located in the East Baltimore development area at 1812 Ashland Ave., offers a home to startup companies trying to build products that grow out of research at the univeristy or its medical school. It’s also open to other Baltimore-area entrepreneurs.

New patents, licenses and startups created with Hopkins technology have been on the rise.

Last year, the university reported $58 million in licensing revenue, three times more than the year before, according to Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, the university’s commercialization office. The spike largely reflects Hopkins’ share of a $300 million deal Japanese company Astellas Pharma struck with Immunomic Therapeutics, which is developing a new type of vaccine based on Hopkins research, and university leaders are optimistic such revenue will continue to grow.

“If we really want to [further] impact human health, we have to do more than research,” said Christy Wyskiel, an adviser on commercialization to university President Ronald J. Daniels. “We have to build” products from the research.

Companies founded on Hopkins technology have raised about $1.1 billion in funding since 2012, yet about 85 percent of them are no longer in Maryland, according to the commercialization office. Wyskiel said startups founded in Maryland often leave the area in search of better office and lab options, and to be closer to investors.

To stem that tide of departures, Hopkins has built up a network of incubators and resources intended to keep companies in Baltimore. The university’s FastForward East is across the street from the new incubator. This summer, Hopkins will relocate its original FastForward incubator, which opened in 2013, from the Stieff Silver Building near its Homewood campus to the nearby R. House in Remington.

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Brian Stansky, director of FastForward, shows off the state-of-the-art laboratory equipment available in the wet labs. Johns Hopkins Medicine has opened the new incubator space at 1812 Ashland Ave., leasing office and laboratory spaces to startup companies. Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun (Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun)

FastForward 1812 was designed to offer not only the co-working space, offices, conference rooms and other shared amenities that have become standard for business incubators, but also 13,000 square feet of so-called “wet” lab space, including a shared lab and 17 individual labs.

Wet labs allow for the handling of chemicals, drugs and biological materials, requiring ventilation and specialized utilities, but that capability also makes them expensive, Wyskiel said. Such labs are a scarce resource for the kind of companies coming out of the university that Hopkins is eager to retain.

“When you’re a young company, raising money is really hard. You don’t want your first dollars going to expensive equipment,” Wyskiel said.

Each lab includes a fume hood, biosafety cabinet and sink with purified water.

Monthly rent ranges from $900 for an individual bench in the shared lab to $6,000 for the largest private lab. That price also includes access to hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of shared equipment, such as specialty microscopes, centrifuges, liquid nitrogen and refrigerators hooked up to backup power, so that stored biological specimens won’t be lost in a power outage.

While the labs are downstairs, accessible only to those renting the space, the incubator’s main level houses offices and co-working desks available for rent with flexible lease terms. Monthly rents range from $275 for a single desk to $2,025 for a six-person office.

The facility also has a long menu of support services available to members, such as legal help, business development experts and a venture manager whose job is to connect companies to potential investors.

FastForward 1812 was an obvious choice for WindMIL Therapeutics, a cancer immunotherapy company, said CEO Brian Halak.

“By moving into FastForward, you can get up and running in a brand-new company very quickly without fumbling around, trying to find office space, get the internet connected, order the furniture,” Halak said. “All those things you absolutely need and can take a significant amount of time. They don’t necessarily move the science forward, which is ultimately what the goal of these companies is.”

WindMIL is developing a way to treat cancer using bone marrow cells that are capable of attacking cancer in ways a patient’s immune system can’t. The company’s work is based on research at Hopkins by Ivan Borrello and Kimberly Noonan, who have studied how these cells can be extracted and activated, then returned to patients to fight cancer.

Borrello and Noonan spun out the company with an investment from Domain Associates, a venture firm where Halak is a partner. Since launching in May 2016, WindMIL has raised about $11 million.

Aside from offering the combination of private lab and office space WindMIL needed, FastForward is an easy 15-minute walk from Borrello’s university lab. That proximity is critical at the company’s early stage, Borrello said.

Tenants began moving into FastForward 1812 at the beginning of the year and it currently houses 19 companies.

The majority of the startups there have been spun out of Hopkins, but the space is open to applicants from elsewhere in the city.

Brian Stansky, the incubator’s senior director, said he’s looking for companies with ideas that can make a difference and a team that is dedicated to building a company.

FastForward 1812 adds to a growing network of incubators and office spaces dedicated to startups in Baltimore.

Among the recent additions are Impact Hub and Open Works, both near Penn Station, and Spark, a co-working and office space for post-incubator startups in Power Plant Live. Impact Hub and Open Works are among the most recent additions. In 2015, Sagamore Ventures, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank’s private investment arm, opened City Garage, a former bus depot converted into a hub for startups and makers alongside an Under Armour innovation lab.

“Getting these universities involved is such a great complement to the other programs we have in the market and, I believe, will lend itself to the vibrancy of entrepreneurial activity,” said Christopher Helmrath, managing director of SC&amp;H Capital, a Sparks-based investment banking advisory firm that helps companies raise money and negotiate business deals.

Betamore, a startup resource based in Federal Hill, is doubling the amount of office space it has for startups and entrepreneurs by expanding into 8,000 square feet at City Garage, where it will be able to accommodate an additional 90 people.

Betamore CEO Jen Meyer said the organization needed to expand to accommodate growing demand. She said she’s not worried about competition from Hopkins because each of the incubators and office spaces cropping up in Baltimore has its own niche.

“I think it’s going to be great for us, from a pure community and ecosystem perspective,” Meyer said. “We’re all working toward our strengths and that’s going to bode really well for Baltimore in the coming years.”

HOPKINS HOPES LATEST INCUBATOR, FASTFORWARD 1812, SPURS COMMERCIALIZATION.

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SAVE the DATE 
Momma Move Celebration – May 6, 2017

Join the ultimate mommy meetup for Mother’s Day! Celebrate the special moms in your life with a fitness-themed morning at the newly opened Eager Park in East Baltimore. In it’s second year, Momma Move will offer an opportunity for families to have fun and get active together.
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Attendees will have the chance to participate in a one-mile fun run around and through the new park, mini fitness classes from local studios and instructors, special activities from area companies, and much more!

Breakfast in bed is wonderful, but our mommas want to work up a sweat!



Save the Date!

Saturday, May 6, 2017 – 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

One-mile Fun Run begins at 9:00 AM



Where: Eager Park –  Baltimore, MD 21205

Cost: Tickets are available <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/momma-move-celebration-fun-run-tickets-32330163389" target="_blank">online</a> and will be available at the event.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER, VISIT <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/momma-move-celebration-fun-run-tickets-32330163389" target="_blank">HERE</a>

Momma Move Celebration at Eager Park

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Scott Levitan, development director for Forest City-New East Baltimore Partnership, stands at Eager Park, which officially opens May 6.
 (Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun)</aside>

<figure><img alt="Jacques Kelly" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-543e90b4/turbine/balnews-jacques-kelly-20130507/70/70x70" title="Jacques Kelly"></figure>

<a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/balnews-jacques-kelly-20130507-staff.html">Jacques Kelly</a><a data-role="sc_sEmail" href="mailto:jkelly@baltsun.com?subject=Regarding:%20%22In%20East%20Baltimore,%20a%20once-barren%20neighborhood%20starts%20to%20bloom%22">Contact Reporter</a>The Baltimore Sun

A bulldozer knocked down rowhouses on McDonogh Street one late autumn day more than eight years ago.

I stood and watched as a part of East Baltimore disappeared that afternoon and skeptically considered what would replace them. I wrote a few days later about the "decimated and emptied neighborhood" just north of the Johns Hopkins medical campus.

This week, I returned to the spot. Over this past winter, 49 townhouses shot up, priced beginning at $280,000. The first group has sold well, according to Scott Levitan, development director for Forest City-New East Baltimore Partnership — they were targeted for home ownership by Hopkins employees — and cleaners were running vacuums before the arrival of new residents.

The new homes are much larger and certainly more prosperous-looking than the humble and narrow 19th-century homes that made up much of a neighborhood called Middle East.

Levitan, whose company was hired by Hopkins for the project, said 23 people and families are now living in homes once marked by nothing more than stakes in the ground when offered for sale in September 2016.

Of all the sales, two-thirds were to Hopkins workers. Another 250 townhouses are scheduled to be built.

Levitan said the owners of nearby commercial structures pay for a fund that covers the costs of security patrols, extra street cleaning, and maintenance of parks and trees.

"We would love to have a great grocery store here too," he said, but added that attempting to draw a top-quality grocery to an emerging urban neighborhood can be daunting.

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The area already has a Walgreens drugstore, Atwater's Bakery and Helmand Kabobi Afghan restaurants, Harbor Bank, and a Starbucks Opportunity Cafe that trains local residents.

Work crews were taking down construction fences this week around the new Eager Park, a three-block-long, 5.5-acre greensward that officially opens Saturday. A group of mechanics were attempting to get a walk-through fountain working. The park also features an amphitheater named for former Mayor Clarence Du Burns, who lived nearby on Mura Street.

The park is big, well designed and is a green centerpiece for this grand design called the Johns Hopkins East Baltimore Initiative. The park, a city block wide, sets off the big labs, student residence buildings and the science-technology structures that are grouped to the north of Hopkins' main medical campus.

As you walk northward, at Ashland Avenue, the buildings grow less tall. By the time you reach Eager Street, the neighborhood ceases to be institutional in character and looks more relaxed. This is where the people live.

The place has changed so much that I had to look around to get my bearings and then spotted a reassuring sight: a No. 13 southbound bus marked "Canton."

This is an urban space that marries a busy hospital and a research park with new and existing neighborhoods. It is not as dense and gritty as what was demolished. Like Harbor East, it is new and takes some getting used to.

There is still more work to be done — there are some vacant lots for a new apartment building and more individual homes will rise this summer. Some will face the Eager Park green space.

And the transformation of this area is not happening in a vacuum. A few blocks away in the Oliver neighborhood, other blocks have changed dramatically since my last visit there in November. Oliver, which once had 450 vacant houses, is now down to about 30 vacants.

"You can see the trend is in the right direction," said Sean Closkey, president of TRF Development Partners, the nonprofit that is overseeing Oliver's restoration. "The Hopkins Initiative was an ambitious project. It was so large. It took years and years, and now, this spring, all of sudden you are starting to see the benefits of consistent, annual investment. The momentum is on our side."

<a href="mailto:jacques.kelly@baltsun.com">jacques.kelly@baltsun.com</a>









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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-kelly-column-hopkins-20170505-story.html

In East Baltimore, a once-barren neighborhood starts to bloom

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