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10/2/09 - MATAN Companies Teams with Federal Capital Partners to Finance the National Cancer Institute at Riverside Research Park in Frederick, Maryland

The Matan Companies has teamed up with Federal Capital Partners (FCP) to complete the financing for the development of the National Cancer Institute’s 330,000 SF Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF) at Riverside Research Park in Frederick, Maryland. The state-of-the art 200-million-dollar office and laboratory facility will commence construction immediately and is slated for delivery in mid 2011. As part of the larger 177-acre Riverside Research Park, the National Cancer Institute’s 62-acre campus will have expansion capacity for another 570,000 square feet, reserved for life-science and advanced technology partner organizations. “This site will be the center of an intensive new effort to bring together government, industry, academic, and nonprofit partners, working side-by-side, utilizing technological resources second to none, to more rapidly translate our latest genetic and molecular discoveries about cancer into effective new treatments that benefit patients,” said John E. Niederhuber, M.D., director of the National Cancer Institute. With SAIC-Frederick, Inc. as its prime contractor, the new facility will be the only Federally-Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) in the country focused exclusively on biomedical research and development, with concerted technology and R&D partnership efforts toward reducing the burden of cancer.

Matan and FCP partnered to secure the 52-million-dollar construction financing from Wells Fargo Bank and US Bank. “Today’s financing environment demands creative approaches to bring large, high-profile projects like this to the market. The ATRF is one of the largest private biotech developments in the country to secure construction financing, and it is a credit to everyone involved,” stated Mark Matan, Principal of the Matan Companies. Matan Companies will develop and manage the project.

“We are incredibly excited to have formed this partnership with the Matan Companies to bring this very important project to fruition,” said Esko Korhonen, Managing Partner of FCP. “The diligent work by our teams resulted in consummating a great financing package, and we appreciated the opportunity to work with Wells Fargo, US Bank, Jones Lang LaSalle, and Cassidy & Pinkard to get this deal completed.”

Cassidy and Pinkard helped to secure the equity and debt for this transaction, and Jones Lang LaSalle represented the Tenant.

About Riverside Research Park
Riverside Research Park is the first biomedical research and development park of its kind in Frederick, Maryland. The 177-acre site has all necessary infrastructure and utilities in place and is ready to build. Riverside delivered its first tenant in the Spring of 2008, a 54,000 SF facility for Charles River Labs. Riverside can accommodate up to 1.8 million SF of lab, R & D, and office space. “Frederick has a vibrant biotech community servicing NIH, the National Cancer Institute, and Fort Detrick, but until now there hasn’t been a destination for these companies to come together in a collaborative, campus-type environment in this market. Riverside Research Park provides just that, and there has been a very high level of interest from companies looking to co-locate with the National Cancer Institute,” said J.P. Matan, Director of Leasing for Matan Companies. Located within the city limits of Frederick and less than three miles from the main gates of Fort Detrick, Riverside is uniquely positioned to provide private sector companies, government agencies, and universities a secure and collaborative work environment. Abundant green space, water features, walk/jogging trails, courtyards, and chance meeting spaces will all add to the collaborative work environment and campus-like feel of Riverside Research Park.

About Federal Capital Partners
Founded in 1999 by partners Esko L. Korhonen and Lacy I. Rice, Federal Capital Partners (FCP) is a real estate investment and development company headquartered in Washington, D.C. Other partners include Alex Marshall and Tom Carr, former Chairman and CEO of CarrAmerica Realty Corp., who joined FCP as a partner in early 2007. Since its inception, FCP has acquired more than $1.2 billion in real estate assets, consisting of multi-family, office, retail, and industrial assets. In 2008, FCP raised a 240-million-dollar, co-mingled, private equity fund, which it is currently investing in multiple product sectors in the Mid-Atlantic region. FCP has established a strong reputation in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area real estate markets as an investor with a keen eye for indentifying unexploited markets and product sectors.

About Matan Companies
Headquartered in Frederick, Maryland for over 30 years, Matan Companies is one of the region's premier commercial real estate and development firms. Founded on the principle of providing a comprehensive, full-service approach to all disciplines involved in commercial real estate, Matan has assembled an in-house professional staff with a proven track record in the disciplines of asset management, investment sales, debt placement, property management, leasing, development, and construction. Matan’s knowledge of the local market and established history, including certainty of closing, expeditious due diligence, and timely settlement dates, sets the company apart from the competition. This full-service approach gives Matan the ability to control every phase of the real estate investment process. Matan’s primary geographic focus is Frederick, Maryland and the I-270 Corridor. Matan’s current portfolio consists of over 3.2 million SF in 30 buildings, with an additional three million SF in the development pipeline.

About NCI-Frederick and SAIC-F
With SAIC-Frederick (SAIC-F) as its prime contractor, NCI-Frederick is home to a cadre of researchers studying cancer and HIV/AIDS and is host to NCI’s Advanced Technology Program, which encompasses nanotechnology, high-performance computing, genomics, and biomedical imaging, among other areas. SAIC-F, a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a Fortune 500® company (NYSE: SAI) – is the operations and technical support contractor for the National Cancer Institute’s research and development center in Frederick, MD. This is a national laboratory dedicated to rapidly translating basic research into new technologies for diagnosing, treating, and preventing cancer and AIDS. SAIC-Frederick maintains a full suite of advanced technologies, in areas such as nanotechnology, genomics, and imaging; operates the federal government’s only drug and vaccine manufacturing facilities; operates the high-performance Advanced Biomedical Computing Center; and supports more than 300 clinical trials for patients in the United States and around the world. “The NCI has identified an urgent need to convert basic research findings into effective cancer treatments that can be delivered to patients right away,” said Larry O. Arthur, Ph.D., CEO of SAIC-Frederick. “The consolidation of our operations into modern facilities will enable us to do just that, with the specific goal of shortening timelines, reducing costs, and increasing productivity—all of which will benefit cancer patients and people at risk for cancer.” More information about the NCI’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative (ATPI) can be found at www.atpihome.com.