Success Story
Breaking Ground for Building 310 in Innovation Park
On June 9, 2017, GLP 310 IP of Baltimore, led by GLP Development, broke ground on 310 Innovation Boulevard, a new research/office building offering 30,000 square feet of available space. The building will be home to the 10,800-square-foot Morgan Advanced Materials’ Carbon Science Centre of Excellence.
Notable speakers on site for the groundbreaking celebration included Neil Sharkey, vice president of research, Penn State University; Mike Murray, chief technology officer, Morgan Advanced Materials; Erwin Greenberg, chairman and founding partner, GLP Development; and Vern Squier, president and CEO, Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County.
Robots from Centre County 4-H Robotics, a local STEM organization focused on education and real-world innovation, participated in the groundbreaking. CC4H Robotics brings design, manufacturing and programming education to local students, within the context of regional and international roboticscompetitions.
“I am absolutely thrilled to see us breaking ground for Building 310 and the opportunities it represents,” said Neil Sharkey. “My hope is that this groundbreaking signals the first of many such localized partnerships and the new buildings to house them. Penn State has much to offer and we are all about providing value to our industry colleagues while advancing the work of our researchers and real world training for our students.”
“The groundbreaking for building 310 is another critical step in seeing the Carbon Science Centre of Excellence to fruition. The center itself can serve as a building block for economic growth; and the new building at Innovation Park is an important asset to have in the ongoing, collective effort to bring future business investment to Centre County,” added Vern Squier.
Affiliates of GLP Development currently own Buildings 328, 329, 331 and 330 at Innovation Park. The $7 million investment in Building 310 brings the company’s total investment at Innovation Park to over $60 million in the past 5 years.
“310 Innovation Boulevard is our fifth building in Innovation Park, and our first designed to be a flexible use building for research, labs, light assembly and office activities,” said Robert Barron, CEO, GLP Development. “Also a first, the building will be constructed using tilt up panels, which will be cast on site. Because of this construction approach, a specialty of Clayco Inc, the contractor, the Building should be available for tenant occupancy in late 2017,” he continued.
The remaining space in 310 leaves room for prospective tenants looking to take advantage of Innovation Park’s amenities and culture.
“The welcoming of Morgan Advanced Materials as the first strategic resident in the facility highlights the continuing intellectual and physical collaboration of talented individuals from around the globe with Penn State to invent the next generation of materials for worldwide use. Morgan’s commitment has already catalyzed other materials companies to consider location in the Park,” added Dan Leri, director, Innovation Park.
“Since the launch of our partnership with Penn State for our Carbon Science Centre of Excellence, we have made great progress in building collaborative links between the two organizations,” said Mike Murray, CTO, Morgan Advanced Materials. “We have already started a number of initial projects aimed at developing our deep understanding of materials science, which has already generated some very promising results. I’m very pleased how our plans for the new building have been progressing. The groundbreaking today is an important next stage in establishing our Carbon Science Centre of Excellence and we are looking forward to its completion and commencing our R+D development programs.”
The 310 Innovation Boulevard project team includes: Developer: GLP 310 IP LLP, GLP Development Company LLC; Project Manager: CBRE, Inc.; Leasing: Newmark Grubb Knight Frank; Contractor: Clayco Inc; Architect: Forum Studios, Inc; Engineers: Sweetland Engineering & Associates, Barton Associates and Hope Furrer Associates; Operations: Property Management, Inc.