Saying Good-bye to the COMSAT Laboratories on 270 in Clarksburg

For years, you’ve driven by the former home of Communications Satellite Corp. (COMSAT) Laboratories on 270 in Clarksburg, a research facility that helped modernize communications technology. After being vacant for over 20 years, demolition of the building began on April 13, making room for a new mixed-use development. River Falls Investments (formerly Lantian Development), a real estate and development company based in Bethesda, owns the 204-acre property. Project details haven’t been finalized, but Elliott said a proposed development is expected to include several million square feet of housing and commercial and retail space.

This building has a long history of significant technological contributions.  COMSAT Laboratories on 270 in Clarksburg opened in 1969 as the research division of the COMSAT corporation, which was created as a result of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962, according to Montgomery Planning’s Historic Preservation Division Chief Rebeccah Ballo. The research facility was responsible for major scientific breakthroughs such as the invention of real-time international phone communication and live television broadcasts, including the 1969 moon landing, according to the planning department. In 1997, the COMSAT Laboratories building closed its doors following a merger with Lockheed-Martin and the site has been largely vacant since 2005.

In a new Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, which was approved by the County Council on March 24, planners have recommended the site for a range of development, including residential, commercial, retail and recreational uses. They also recognize the property as “one of the last remaining large, undeveloped sites along the I-270 corridor” that could attract major tenants such as life sciences companies, research and development facilities or a corporate headquarters, according to the sector plan.

The site “represents a rare and important opportunity to meet [the county’s] growing need for housing while delivering the kinds of amenities the community told us they want through the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan process,” Montgomery Planning Director Jason Sartori said Friday in a statement to Bethesda Today.

For years as I have driven up 270 on my way to Pennsylvania or even the Outlet Mall that just opened in Clarksburg, I have wondered why that massive white building that looked like it was part of the Woodie Allen movie, Sleeper, was sitting vacant.  Now I understand!  The building was vacant for 20 years and the  site’s future remained uncertain because the county had to decide whether to designate the COMSAT building as a historic site.

What made the 500,000-square-foot building historically significant was its role in the advancement of communication technology, including a global satellite communications system. The building was also designed by the late Cesar Pelli, an Argentine American architect who designed some of the most iconic skyscrapers in the world. His work spans buildings ranging from the World Financial Center in New York City to the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia.