“We’ve set the table for Baltimore’s future,” University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President Bruce Jarrell, MD, FACS, said at the Jan. 15 grand opening of 4MLK, the newest addition to the University of Maryland BioPark. Jarrell was welcoming guests including Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, University leaders, community members, and other partners who have made 4MLK a reality and helped shape the BioPark’s growth over the past two decades.
“I think of this as a table,” Jarrell continued, describing how community stakeholders, private companies, and government agencies have come together to create a hub of innovation in West Baltimore. “And this BioPark is a good example of another plate at the table to help make Baltimore great.”
Jarrell hailed the project as “a spectacular transformation” of the surrounding corridor and credited Wexford Science & Technology, the building’s developer, for taking a chance on Baltimore. “It took trust from the Wexford & Science Technology company, our BioPark development company, to believe that this could happen in West Baltimore,” Jarrell said.
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Wexford Science & Technology, now headquartered at 4MLK, has built similar projects across the country. But for chief executive officer Ted Russell, 4MLK is especially meaningful. “Though Wexford is now known as a national development company, our roots are based here in Baltimore, and they run deep — specifically for myself, born and raised here in Baltimore City, which is why 4MLK is so important to us and to me,” he said.
Located at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and West Baltimore Street, the eight-story, 250,000-square-foot 4MLK was designed to stand as a center of community engagement in addition to research and entrepreneurship. That role is evident even in the facility’s name. As noted during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the development team hoped to give the building the address “1 MLK.” When its location on the even-numbered side of the street made that impossible, they instead chose “4MLK” — intended to mean “for everybody” — highlighting its inclusive purpose for innovators and residents alike.
Russell explained that the new facility brings Wexford’s “Knowledge Community” model to life, noting, “4MLK not only represents a new statement project for Wexford, but the opportunity to create a new gateway here to the BioPark that demonstrates the most forward-thinking components of design, collaboration, innovation, and community engagement.”
In addition to flexible lab spaces called Connect Labs by Wexford, designed for startups and established companies alike, amenities at 4MLK include a civic lounge to foster gatherings that welcome neighbors as well as scientists.
Baltimore’s mayor also underlined 4MLK’s community-first spirit. “The civic lounge, flexible land space, and public plaza demonstrate that this building isn’t just for researchers and entrepreneurs, it’s a place for connection, creativity, and community,” Scott said, emphasizing the inclusion of common areas and programming that invite local residents to enjoy the space. “It’s going to continue to build Baltimore’s reputation as a destination for the very best minds in our country to come and resource work and fall in love with not just crab cakes, but everything that is Charm City.”
Miller, who also spoke at the ceremony, emphasized the importance of partnership and collaboration in projects such as 4MLK. “All of us know progress like this doesn't happen on its own, and it doesn’t happen in isolation. As the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us, and whose name this building and the road bears, that progress is neither automatic, nor is it inevitable, and progress cannot happen without partnership and collaboration,” she said, before noting that the partnership between public and private sectors, including the Maryland Department of Commerce, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Advantage Maryland, and the Baltimore Development Corporation, made the development of 4MLK possible.
“When the state’s largest city thrives, Maryland succeeds,” she said.
During the festive ribbon-cutting, University of Maryland representatives, Wexford executives, and local officials lined up with oversized scissors as a band played in the space’s bright lobby. The crowd broke into applause as the ribbon fell, officially opening 4MLK’s doors to students, entrepreneurs, and community members alike.
“We hope that you’ll consider our home your home, as 4MLK was created for you,” Russell told the gathered audience.
Already, 4MLK has welcomed several tenants within Connect Labs by Wexford, including UMB startup Irazú Oncology, the Emerging Technology Center Baltimore, and EPOCH Epigenetics, among others. In addition, the facility’s fourth floor is home to the Edward and Jennifer St. John Center for Translational Engineering and Medicine, made possible by a $10 million joint gift from Edward and Jennifer St. John and the Edward St. John Foundation. The new center brings together researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine at UMB and the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.
James L. Hughes, MBA, chief enterprise and economic development officer and senior vice president at UMB and president of the BioPark, made clear that the ceremony represented more than just the celebration of a new building: It also was a declaration of continued commitment to West Baltimore. “This is community space,” he said when describing 4MLK, “a comfortable place where people from all walks of life, all different backgrounds, will come together, interact, and be a really convening place for the biotech community, but also for the community in general.”
One of the celebration’s attendees was Brian Sturdivant, MSW, director of strategic initiatives and community partnerships at UMB’s Office of Community and Civic Engagement, located just a few blocks away from 4MLK. He praised the design and impact of 4MLK, calling it a “beautiful” addition to the BioPark that serves as a gateway to both Baltimore and the University.
“4MLK is such a beautiful building that I recently joked with my colleagues that UMB must have been ‘showing off’ when they constructed it,” he said, adding that the grand opening celebration itself was “incredible, especially the band.”