Gateway Business Park In Howard County To Transform Into Premier Innovation District

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The county has issued an "expression of interest" for a master plan to guide the transformation of the Gateway Business Park into what's being called the premier innovation district on the East Coast.

The county’s pending general plan update, HoCo By Design, calls for a progressive redevelopment of the more than 1,000-acre industrial and office park into a major hub for employment, entertainment and innovation. The expression of interest would create a multi-disciplinary consultant team experienced with master planning efforts of this magnitude, officials noted.

“We will develop an ambitious vision that keep us forward-looking, equipped to address the challenges of today and ready to seize the opportunities of tomorrow,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said. “As the center for innovation, Gateway will leverage the strengths of its location, cutting-edge technology and a suite of assets to attract employers, residents and visitors from the Baltimore-Washington corridor and beyond.”

Gateway is located close to the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, I-95, MD-175 and adjacent to Downtown Columbia. The redevelopment has been envisioned as a vibrant mixed-use community, which will provide a full-spectrum of new housing opportunities and public amenity spaces.

A reimagined Gateway will embrace new technologies like autonomous systems, clean and sustainable buildings, and energy as well as nature-based climate solutions.

“The Gateway area is a major driver of economic development and employment in the county,” said Leonardo McClarty, president and chief executive officer of the Howard County Chamber of Commerce. “Yet, it remains full of untapped potential and its growth will play a critical role in the economic vitality of the county.”