The Matan Cos. will add biotech manufacturing and research space to one of its existing office campuses in Germantown to meet the surge in demand from local life sciences firms.

The new construction is slated for the Milestone Business Park, located just off Interstate 270 at the Father Hurley Boulevard exit, the Frederick-based developer told the Washington Business Journal. Matan plans to add three new buildings totaling 532,000 square feet, constructing them on some of the site’s ample parking lots and rebranding the campus as “Milestone Innovation Park.”

The move is one of several the developer’s made recently to adapt to the rapid growth of biotech companies in Montgomery County. The industry has long been one of the county’s strongest, but the pandemic has supercharged demand from firms working on tests, treatments and even vaccines for Covid-19. And Principal Mark Matan said the market is strong enough that he’ll build this project on spec, expecting that if he can…