Venture X opens in College Park, adds coworking to Discovery District

Venture X has opened in the University of Maryland Discovery District, giving Prince George’s County its first flexible office and coworking space and adding another business-use anchor to College Park’s university-centered innovation corridor.

The 13,898-square-foot site at 5825 University Research Court, Suite 2000, opened with a ribbon cutting and community event on March 27. County economic development leaders have framed the project as more than a new lease-up: it is a test of whether the area around the University of Maryland can keep more startup meetings, hybrid workdays and small-team collaboration inside the county instead of sending that activity to Washington or Northern Virginia.

The location is being operated by Moniesha Jackson Shorter, who said she began her founder journey in 2018 and wanted to build the kind of community-driven support space she wished she had as an entrepreneur. Venture X is aimed at startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses, with the site listing 60 private offices, two conference rooms, a training room, a café-style lounge and event space, and 24/7 secure access.

The opening matters because Discovery District Maryland already has depth. The University of Maryland says the district is home to more than 60 companies, federal agencies, academic research institutes, labs and collaborative spaces, and that it continues to evolve with housing, transit, recreation and public spaces. UMD also says the district now has two coworking spaces, WeWork and Venture X. WeWork was the first WeWork in Maryland and the first on a college campus, a marker of how long the university area has been trying to convert its research base into a broader live-work-innovate district.

For Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation and the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce, Venture X is intended to strengthen that pipeline. The county EDC has described the project as a major addition to the county’s ecosystem for entrepreneurs, startups and innovative businesses, and as part of a broader strategy to expand economic activity by investing in places where companies can launch, scale and collaborate.

That makes the College Park opening less like a simple amenity and more like a measure of demand. A coworking operator with a university address, research neighbors and flexible office suites can work only if the county can sustain a steady mix of founders, remote workers and early-stage firms. Venture X’s arrival suggests that bet still has some traction in Prince George’s County.