IIC Technologies signs lease at The Discovery District at UMD

IIC Technologies has signed the first office lease at St. John Properties Inc.’s 5600 Rivertech Court, a flex/research and development office in The Discovery District at the University of Maryland.

IIC Technologies, which provides consultation and services for the geospatial industry, has offices all over the globe, including in India, UAE and Australia. The company plans to move into the 5,000-square-foot space this spring.

“Moving to The Discovery District will bring us closer to key customers, …” Gerd Glang, director for IIC Technologies, said in a statement. “We anticipate this move helping us to establish and benefit from a relationship with the advanced technologies incubating from University of Maryland, as well as the other information technology, research companies and government agencies located within the Discovery District”

St. John Properties, in addition to the 52,680-square-foot property at 5600 Rivertech Court, has built a 57,120-square-foot flex/research and development building at 5650 Rivertech and a 50,170-square-foot flex/research and development building at 5751 Rivertech, which is 100 percent leased by the College Park Academy.

The Discovery District at the University of Maryland is about a mile south of the University of Maryland, College Park campus. The University announced the creartion of the district early last year and touted it as part of the Greater College Park Initiative that’s expected to lure $2 billion in private and public investment.

“In the Discovery District, our faculty, students, and businesses will work to turn knowledge into jobs. The district’s facilities and amenities will quicken the pulse of research, innovation, and learning, creating economic and social benefits for Maryland and beyond,” University of Maryland, College Park President Wallace D. Loh said at the time.

College Park submitted a bid to host Amazon’s second headquarters, dubbed HQ2. Ken Ulman, the university’s chief strategy officer, who has been challenged with turning the area into a Silicon Valley-like tech hub, pitched the Discovery District as the ideal landing spot for Amazon.

In recent years the University of Maryland, College Park has made efforts to transform the area around the university into a thriving live, work and play community.

Those efforts include designating the a Regional Institution Strategic Enterprise Zone covering 470 acres, including much of the Discovery District, around the campus. That designation provides businesses in the zone with various incentives provided they invest a minimum of $5 million and create 50 jobs.