4MLK Receives Economic Development Project Award from the Maryland Economic Development Association
BALTIMORE, MD, April 27, 2026 – 4MLK, the newest development project in the University of Maryland (UM) BioPark, was named the Maryland Economic Development Association’s (MEDA) 2026 Economic Development Project Awardee. The award recognizes private sector entities for their commitment to economic development in the state of Maryland. 4MLK brings together a public-private-philanthropic partnership to build on Baltimore’s burgeoning life sciences sector and bolster the City’s economic development goals. The project sends a powerful signal about Baltimore’s commitment to inclusive innovation and community-rooted economic growth.
Opened in January 2025, 4MLK is a vibrant gateway connecting the University of Maryland BioPark, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), the University of Maryland Medical Center, and private companies while advancing Baltimore’s growing life sciences sector. Developed by Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, the 250,000-square-foot, eight-story facility delivers Class A office and laboratory space designed to support biotech and life science companies, and anchors Baltimore’s place in the national innovation economy.
“4MLK stands as a model for equitable, innovation‑driven economic development, uniting startups, institutions, and the community within a single collaborative environment. It demonstrates how policy, capital, and vision can be strategically aligned to catalyze inclusive growth in a historically underserved area,” said Gregg Herlong, vice president and market executive at Wexford Science & Technology.
A key purpose of 4MLK was to provide critically needed second-stage wet lab space for growing life science and biotech businesses, helping them scale within the city rather than relocate elsewhere. Connect Labs Baltimore fills this need, providing 35,000 sq. ft. of flexible, scale-in-place lab and innovation space for emerging companies – a first for the City of Baltimore. The model is already proving to be successful, drawing more than 20 companies into the building over the last year, many of which have grown, achieved milestones, or formed collaborations with UMB or other BioPark-based companies.
“For years, Baltimore City, including the BioPark, had almost no available commercial lab space. This market gap meant that emerging and growth-stage companies were often forced to relocate. We were losing promising companies, including many academic spinouts,” commented Mary Morris, director of the Baltimore Fund at UMB. “4MLK, and especially Connect Labs with its turnkey lab solutions, is helping solve this problem.”
4MLK integrated economic development, real estate, academic research, and startup incubation, strategically aligning public (Baltimore Development Corporation, City of Baltimore, and State of Maryland), private (Wexford and UMB), and philanthropic (Edward and Jennifer St. John and the Edward St. John Foundation) stakeholders. This shared investment—financial, institutional, and relational—ensured the project was not only ambitious in scope but grounded in community-rooted execution. 4MLK is a model of cross-sector collaboration and serves as a blueprint for equitable, innovation-driven development. It reflects both a local legacy and national ambition to lead in this industry sector.