The Baltimore Sun

The earth has been turned, and construction begins on the next big spoke in downtown's west-side economic wheel. The groundbreaking for the University of Maryland, Baltimore's biotech park project Thursday morning adds to the area's continuing transformation from near-death to cultural and fiscal vibrancy.

Baltimore is banking on the long-term success of the University of Maryland BioPark, which is to start housing tech-related firms by year's end, and the east-side's mammoth biotech and housing project, which has just started demolition work. It's a long-term plan; such firms take years to even suggest a product might turn a profit.