While the state nurtures its rapidly growing biotechnology cluster along DNA Alley, economic development leaders in Maryland's largest city hope that a "digital harvest" is in their future.

MARYLAND's NEW PLANTS
Largest Corporate Facility Investments in Maryland Jan. 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001
Company	Location	Product	Investment (US)
Allegheny Energy	St. Joseph Co.	Power plant	$400 million
Owings Mills Town Ctr.	Owings Mills	Mixed-use	$300 million
Human Genome Sciences	Rockville	Biotechnology	$250 million
General Motors	White Marsh	Transmissions	$206 million
Discovery Channel	Silver Spring	TV production	$160 million
MedImmune Inc.	Gaithersburg	Biotechnology	$70 million
ClosetMaid	Grantsville	Wire shelving	$60 million
Clorox Co.	Aberdeen	Distribution	$40 million
Black & Decker	Towson	Power tools	$35 million
Bookham Technology	Columbia	Integrated optical	$35 million
Lenox Inc.	Williamsport	Distribution	$18 million
Trellis Photonics	Columbia	Switching tech.	$18 million
Wedgewood	Frederick	Distribution/manuf.	$18 million
Heidtman Steel	Sparrows Point	Steel processor	$12 million
Fresh Fields	Prince George's Co.	Distribution	$12 million
Response Services	Columbia	Security services	$11 million

      Gaye Legg of the Baltimore Development Corp. notes that her city is pushing three principal initiatives -- Montgomery Park, the West Side Initiative and the Digital Harbor -- as the anchors of a citywide redevelopment plan. The early returns, she says, are encouraging.
      "We are in the middle of a real boom in commercial real estate in Baltimore," says Legg. "We haven't had nearly the technology downturn that other cities have had. We've had our share of downturn with the dot-coms, but the vacancy rate in Baltimore remains steady and our rates for office space are much less expensive than Washington's."
      In fact, a recent report by The Johns Hopkins University's Real Estate Institute concluded that "no national economic downturn will rain on the Baltimore/Washington region's commercial real estate parade." In the report titled Trend Watch 2001, the survey of area commercial real estate specialists rated the city of Baltimore as "the most improved jurisdiction in terms of getting business done" in the entire Baltimore/Washington region.
      "The Baltimore Ravens aren't the only champions in Baltimore. Downtown multifamily housing has generated an excitement in the local real estate community unmatched by other property types," the report states. "Largely driven by strong demographics among young adults, first-time renters and over-45 affluent empty-nesters, the demand for downtown housing also reflects a general optimism about the city."
      The report, released in March, also forecasts strong growth in the industrial sector of the Baltimore/Washington corridor. Much of this growth will move to the outlying suburbs of Harford, Loudoun and Frederick counties, the report notes, with rental rates rising and obsolete industrial properties being converted into residential and other commercial uses.
      The linchpin of Baltimore's dreams is the Digital Harbor, an attempt to revitalize the city's urban waterfront into a magnet for New Economy start-ups. Corporate backers have already lined up their own capital to support the initiative. Sylvan Learning Centers Inc., based in Baltimore, used the proceeds from the $775 million sale of its testing division to launch a new Internet incubator fund. Possible tie-ins with the Imaging Research Center at the University of Maryland Baltimore County campus could also give the city's program a boost.
      Lower rental rates for class A space -- just $30 per sq. ft. in Baltimore, compared with $40 to $60 per sq. ft. for comparable space in Washington -- and the amenities of Fells Point, Canton and Federal Hill are all being touted as drawing cards for Baltimore.
      Time will tell whether the city's recruitment efforts pay dividends, especially in light of the recent dot-com crash on Wall Street. But one key statistic gives local real estate executives reason to smile: After a year that saw a record 3.2 million sq. ft. (297,600 sq. m.) of leasing activity in the Baltimore metro area, the overall vacancy rate for the area remains quite healthy at 8 percent.
      Andy Frank, executive vice president of the Baltimore Development Corp., says he's optimistic that Baltimore's recent momentum will carry on through the remainder of 2001 and into 2002. "We're coming off a very good year in which the city recorded a net gain of 8,000 jobs over the last 12 months," he says. "This represents a new sense of optimism in Baltimore, and the common denominator is land. The city is trying to directly assemble properties for development or facilitate development."
      One such example is the recent Bank One Corp. deal in downtown Baltimore. The BDC acquired 70 separate downtown properties to create a small business park of 3.5 acres (1.4 hectares). The Maryland Economic Development Corp. purchased a parcel on this property from the city and built a 40,000-sq.-ft. (3,720-sq.-m.) facility on site. Bank One is leasing that space for use as a major new check remittance facility that will create up to 500 new jobs over five years in a federal Empowerment Zone.