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Bilingual university plans to relocate campus into former Discovery HQ

POSTED

12.24.19

Discovery’s former Silver Spring headquarters just won another new tenant: Ana G. Méndez University, which will relocate its Wheaton campus to the Inventa Towers at One Discovery Place.

The Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. announced Monday that the nonprofit university will lease 28,500 square feet on the second floor of the former Discovery building.

The university plans to consolidate both its Wheaton space and its government affairs offices in D.C. into a single location in Silver Spring, set to open in May 2020. In the meantime, the university is leasing another 16,500 square feet in the building as swing space until it can prepare the new offices.

AGMU, which offers a variety of courses in both English and Spanish across its five campuses, also plans to add 12 new employees as part of the change, while retaining the 26 staffers currently working in Montgomery County.

“[We are] pleased to be moving to this state-of-the-art building in such a central, diverse and accessible location,” AGMU President José Méndez Méndez wrote in a statement. “We are very excited about the possibilities for larger classes and expanded offerings in this location.”

The county EDC said it has been working with the university on a potential campus consolidation dating back to April 2018. Yet, the announcement is the first one spearheaded by new EDC President and CEO Benjamin Wu, who only took the helm of the organization in early December.

The expansion is also a substantial milestone for Foulger-Pratt, which is in the midst of renovating the Inventa Towers after buying the building alongside Cerberus Capital Management as Discovery (NASDAQ: DISCA) moved out. Children’s National Hospital became the building’s first new tenant when it announced plans to lease four floors there earlier this year.