MedImmune Alerts Community of Plans to Build Childcare Center
UPDATED MedImmune and AstraZeneca officials are planning to build a child care center adjacent to the company’s corporate campus at One MedImmune Way in Gaithersburg.
In an email sent on Feb. 11, the biotech company alerted Quince Orchard Park community residents that a Schematic Development Plan (SDP) application for construction of the child care center on the Meadows property was filed at Gaithersburg City Hall. The size of the proposed building is between 16,000 and 20,000 square feet.
Liz Huntley, MedImmune’s director of corporate citizenship and community relations, said the company anticipates the application will go to a public hearing before the Gaithersburg Planning Commission in March or April.
“As we are just at the beginning of the development process, details regarding the design of the building are not yet finalized,” said Huntley.
In the email, she also reminds residents of several key provisions regarding development on the Meadows property that were included in an annexation agreement signed in 2013 between MedImmune/AstraZeneca and the City of Gaithersburg.
• There will be a minimum 50-foot setback for any surface parking on the property with a 100-foot setback for buildings.
• Buildings are limited to five stories in height, but the proposed childcare center will be no more than two stories above grade at the street elevation.
• Development on the Meadows property will be subject to appropriate screening utilizing trees and/or vegetation to ensure a proper visual/sound/light barrier between the residential properties and MedImmune/AstraZeneca structures.
According to Huntley, the child care center is being designed to a target enrollment capacity of 140 children, infant to six years of age as well as an after school program for approximately 40 school-age children.
“Our intent in building the child care center is to provide a convenient, high-quality child care center for our employees and their families. This will allow parents to spend more time with their children during their commute to work and give them peace of mind during the workday knowing that their children are close by,” Huntley said.
She added that the center will be run by a leading independent early childhood education provider. The provider, Huntley says, has extensive experience running employer-sponsored child care programs.
So when will it open?
“Since we are still very early in the development process and there are significant variables in any construction project, it is difficult to anticipate when the proposed center will open,” Huntley said. “However, we are hoping for the center to be completed by the end of 2016.”
Huntley says residents with questions about the company’s plans can email her for more information at huntleye@medimmune.com.
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