The search is over. Johns Hopkins Medicine has selected two prominent city locations to serve as new off-site office space for several administrative departments currently located on the East Baltimore campus.

The plan is to relocate 220 personnel by early fall into the newly built Bond Street Wharf, located at Bond and Thames streets in Fells Point, and One Charles Center, which sits at 100 N. Charles St. in the heart of Baltimore's downtown area.

In total, Hopkins will occupy roughly 50,000 square feet of space, 35,000 of which will be at Bond Street Wharf.

Richard Grossi, chief financial officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine, said that Hopkins is currently finalizing lease arrangements with Bond Street Wharf LLC, the Fells Point building's landlord. As for expansion into 100 N. Charles St., Grossi said Hopkins will execute an option on an existing lease, as both the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education and the Fund for Johns Hopkins Medicine already occupy space in the building. The plan was approved last month by a subcommittee of the board of trustees.

The move is the second substantial relocation effort off the campus within a year. In April 2002, the Fund for Johns Hopkins Medicine, with 120 personnel, consolidated its offices at One Charles Center.

The relocation effort and citywide search for space, begun eight months ago, was necessitated by the steady growth in Hopkins Medicine's "core programs" and the pressing need for additional clinical and academic space on the East Baltimore campus, Grossi said, adding that it became clear to university and hospital officials that Hopkins had to look elsewhere to accommodate administrative offices.

Situated on the waterfront, Bond Street Wharf is a six-story, 216,000-square-foot office building that was designed by RTKL Associates. The building is part of a $101 million commercial and residential complex being developed by Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and H&S Properties Development Corp. It is located on the site of the former Terminal Warehouse, a dilapidated six-story brick building burned down in 1992 in a scene in the Barry Levinson film Avalon.

Bond Street Wharf's amenities include retail on the ground floor, a rooftop terrace, a planned adjacent park area and plentiful parking. Hopkins will join RTKL, Morgan Stanley and Brown Investment Advisory & Trust as tenants.

Grossi said that moving into Bond Street Wharf makes sense because, in addition to being an attractive location, it allows Hopkins to keep jobs in the eastern part of the city and relocated offices relatively close to campus.

"We want to support the commercial redevelopment of the Broadway corridor," Grossi said. "We would love to see Broadway get a shot in the arm from the East Baltimore campus to Fells Point, and this, we feel, is a step in the right direction. In time, we possibly could see a nice walkway that extends from the campus down to the waterfront."

As for 100 N. Charles St., Grossi said Hopkins' expanded presence in the building will emphasize what is becoming "a new Hopkins campus in the downtown area," referring to the location's proximity to SPSBE's Downtown Center, located on the corner of North Charles and Fayette streets.

Hopkins plans to occupy another entire floor of 100 N. Charles St.

"There was a strong incentive to find a place that would support the downtown area," Grossi said. "We're excited about the prospect of having another inner-city location and about bolstering Hopkins' ability to support the economy of the city."

Grossi said the plans are for the School of Medicine's former Office of Technology Licensing (recently consolidated into the new Office of Licensing and Technology Development) and the Office of Policy Coordination to move into 100 N. Charles St., while Bond Street Wharf will be the new home for Access Services, JHM's Office of Public Affairs, the Office of Consumer Health Information, Johns Hopkins Health System's Planning and Marketing Office and other administrative groups that he "is currently in conversation with."

Charles Weinstein, director of real estate services for Johns Hopkins Real Estate, which led the search for space, said the fact that Bond Street Wharf provided ample parking space and that both sites allow for future expansion were "major factors" as to why they were selected. The landlord for Bond Street Wharf has agreed to provide a shuttle service for transport between its building and the East Baltimore campus. One Charles Center is located two Metro stops from the East Baltimore campus.

Grossi said he anticipates occupancy to occur by September.