News Release

Renewing its commitment to downtown Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University has signed a lease for the School of Continuing Studies to occupy a new facility at the former Hamburger's building, on the southwest corner of Charles and Fayette streets. The school's graduate Division of Business and Management will consolidate its downtown classroom and office space at the new facility, expected to open in the fall of 2000.

Hopkins officials signed a 10-year lease for the 40,000-square-foot site owned by Peter Angelos since 1997. Construction of the improvements is expected to cost approximately $6.1 million.

An early conceptual rendering of the new Downtown Center shows a mix of glass, granite and stainless steel. A news ticker enlivens the facade facing Charles and Fayette streets.

"For more than 10 years, Hopkins has realized the benefits of having a campus in the center of Baltimore," said university president William R. Brody. "I am particularly pleased for the help and cooperation of both Peter Angelos and Mayor Schmoke in our efforts to relocate our Downtown Center to what will be a signature site in the heart of the city's business district. We are excited to have even greater visibility downtown and an opportunity to contribute to the area's revitalization."

"The decision to locate the Johns Hopkins Downtown Center at Charles and Fayette streets, the focal point of the central business district, heralds the second renaissance of Charles Center and, eventually, all of downtown Baltimore," Angelos said. "The presence of Johns Hopkins, one of the premiere universities in the world, in so prominent a downtown location, announces that Baltimore intends to move forward into the millennium committed to doing all that is necessary to remain a major American city."

"I'm pleased that Johns Hopkins has recommitted to a very visible downtown presence by keeping their campus in the vital core of the city," said Baltimore mayor Kurt L. Schmoke. "It is another vote of confidence in the future of downtown. I want to thank Peter Angelos for his help in making this happen."

"The new Downtown Center reaffirms the preeminence of our graduate business division in Baltimore," said Stanley C. Gabor, dean of the School of Continuing Studies. "As the first and leading provider of master's degree programs in the downtown area, we have grown by partnering with the corporate community to meet their workforce demands in management, information technology, finance and other key fields. Peter Angelos allows Hopkins to continue its commitment to prepare and advance the careers of thousands of professionals in the city." About the building

Ziger/Snead Inc., winner of the AIA's 1998 Grand Design Award for their conversion of the former AAA building for the Maryland Institute College of Art, has been selected the project's architect. Preliminary plans indicate a three-story building, with an entranceway facing the corner of Charles and Fayette streets. The building's facade will be reflective and clear glass panels with a granite veneer and stainless steel accents.

And there will be a feature unique to downtown Baltimore: a 24-hour news ticker, wrapping around the building's front facade.

Featured in the state-of-the-art building will be:

eight "smart" classrooms, wired for multimedia and Internet access to the student's desktop;

two state-of-the-art computer labs with local and wide-area connectivity;

two executive conference rooms suitable for board meetings;

a seminar room for advanced graduate classes;

a 220-seat auditorium with video- conferencing capability;

an electronic library with access to a variety of online business databases including the Bloomberg Financial database, Lexis/Nexis and Dow Jones;

faculty and student lounges;

19 faculty and administrative offices for the school's Graduate Division of Business and Management;

offices for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Community Policing Institute, operated in cooperation with the Baltimore City Police and the U.S. Department of Justice;

Allan L. Berman Real Estate Institute.

About the School of Continuing Studies Downtown Center

The Johns Hopkins School of Continuing Studies opened a downtown campus in January 1987 with a $1 million contribution from Maryland National Bank to establish classrooms, computer labs and offices. By 1989, the center was outgrowing its original 8,500-square-feet and began plans for expansion. In 1991, the 222-seat Jean R. and Allan L. Berman Auditorium was dedicated and the Allan L. Berman Real Estate Institute was established, both through a $1.3 million contribution from Jean Berman in memory of her late husband.

Currently, graduate business classes are held in approximately 18,000 square feet of space in the Downtown Center at Charles Plaza, with enrollments of more than 3,500 annually.

Academic and professional development programs are offered days, evenings and weekends and include both credit and non-credit business courses in management, technology, marketing, information systems, finance and organizational development. The center serves more than 900 adult students in the credit and certificate programs. Courses also are offered through the school's Professional Development Institute, with approximately 1,600 business professionals taking a broad range of non-credit courses in such areas as database management, information systems technology and computer programming.

The average Downtown Center student is 34 years old; 75 percent live or work in the Greater Baltimore area; 55 percent of the student body is male, 45 percent female and 20 percent represent minorities.

Construction is expected to begin in summer, 1999.

A color concept sketch by RTKL is available.