Johns Hopkins has taken a large step toward construction of a third building at its Montgomery County Campus, selecting a developer who also will assist in planning for additional future expansion at the 35-acre site in Rockville, Md.

After a national search, the university selected Spaulding & Slye Colliers, a corporate and investor real estate services company with offices in Washington and Boston. In addition to developing the new building, the company will work with Hopkins to craft a master plan for future construction that would build out the Montgomery County campus.

The third building, to be completed by the fall of 2004, will add about 50,000 square feet of classrooms, computer labs and related academic space to the 98,000 square feet used by the university’s schools in the first two Montgomery County buildings. But it also will include space to be leased to other tenants--primarily science- and technology-related companies, agencies or organizations--with whom Johns Hopkins will establish academic, research or other collaborations. The new building may be as large as 130,000 square feet.

Gary K. Ostrander, associate dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, has been asked by the provost and the deans of the four schools with programs at that campus to take the lead for the university in the new collaborations. He first undertook that role with the establishment of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute and its location at the Montgomery County Campus in 2000. As leader of this expanded effort, Ostrander will hold the part-time title of associate provost for research.

“We have already outgrown our first two buildings in Montgomery County and very much need new classroom space for our part-time programs in the arts and sciences, business, education and engineering,” Ostrander said. “But more than that, we will broaden our engagement with the Montgomery County corporate and government communities, not only in academic areas but also in research. Our mission at the campus is to serve the needs of Montgomery County in the lab as well as the classroom.”

Elaine Amir, director of the Montgomery County Campus, said that working with Spaulding & Slye Colliers “allows us to combine their private sector real estate expertise with our strengths as a teaching and research institution.

“This partnership puts us in the best possible position to meet Montgomery County’s needs in higher education and economic and workforce development,” Amir said.

The Montgomery County Campus master plan and design for the third building are expected to be completed by the end of this year. Construction on the new building is planned to begin in the spring of 2003.

Douglas M. Duncan, Montgomery County executive, said, “Creating and attracting technology businesses to Montgomery County requires a highly educated workforce and state-of-the-art research facilities. Johns Hopkins is recognized around the world as an elite educational and research institution,” he said, “so its commitment to expanding its presence here in Montgomery County will greatly benefit our commitment to provide county residents with high-quality job opportunities. We are excited for construction to begin and look forward to continuing a successful partnership.”

The Montgomery County Campus, in the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center along the Interstate 270 corridor, opened in 1988 with the completion of a 49,000-square-foot building. A second of the same size opened in 2000.

Beginning with 892 students, the campus has grown to more than 40 part-time graduate and undergraduate degree and certificate programs that annually attract more than 8,300 course enrollments. Classes are offered by the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Whiting School of Engineering, School of Professional Studies in Business and Education and Bloomberg School of Public Health.