Discovery Communications Inc. said yesterday that it will build a $150 million headquarters in Silver Spring, relocating about 800 jobs from Bethesda.

The international multimedia company could receive more than $7.2 million in economic incentives, said James D. Fielder, acting secretary of the state Department of Business and Economic Development.

Because the company's four-acre site in downtown Silver Spring will be located in an enterprise zone, it is eligible for about $6.7 million in assistance, he said. It could also receive a $500,000 job-creation tax credit.

Discovery plans to add about 300 jobs by the time the building is constructed in 2001, said Judith McHale, Discovery's president.

The company also has applied for other types of incentives, Fielder said.

Discovery, which has been in Bethesda since 1991, considered moving to Washington or Northern Virginia.

The company ran out of space in Bethesda, McHale said.

Discovery Communications, whose product line includes the Discovery Channel, employs 3,000 people worldwide.

Pub Date: 10/09/98