Satellite Services Provider Opens DC-Area Facility

April 29, 2024

Development Industrial Mid-Atlantic News More Washington D.C.

EXM is the first development of this kind in the U.S. to come online on a community college campus.

The facility is at 19710 Observation Drive in Germantown, Md. — Developers broke ground on the 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in 2022. *Image courtesy of Hughes Network Systems*

Hughes Network System, an EchoStar company, has opened EXM, a 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Germantown, Md. The building will also serve as a private 5G incubation center.

EXM is the first such facility in the U.S. to open on a community college campus. In 2022, Montgomery College awarded exclusive development rights and a long-term ground lease for the almost 6-acre site to Minkoff Development Corp. and South Duvall Commercial Real Estate Investments.

That same year, the developers signed the agreement with Hughes Network System and broke ground on the project, using funds from a $31.2 million construction loan originated by WesBanco, according to Montgomery County records.

The high-tech facility employs advanced robotics to manufacture satellite broadband and networking products, including the Hughes HT3000W JUPITER System satellite modem and the Hughes HL1120W Low Earth Orbit satellite terminal. Additionally, the company will secure 5G networking applications crucial to the U.S. Department of Defense.

The building is in a RISE & Opportunity zone at 19710 Observation Drive, within the Pinkney Innovation Complex for Science and Technology. The facility is also adjacent to Hughes’ headquarters at 11717 Exploration Lane and 24 miles from downtown Washington, D.C.

Metro D.C.’s industrial sector registered a 331,228-square-foot net absorption in the first quarter of this year, according to a JLL market report. Additionally, the market had almost 2.1 million square feet of space under construction during the same period, 15.9 percent of which was already preleased.