Development : Development News

ShopRite is opening two Maryland stores July 28, following the auction of 11 Maryland SuperFresh shops.

ShopRite in Timonium and D.C. suburb White Oak will each employ around 200, many of whom are former SuperFresh employees, says William Sumas, vice chairman of ShopRite parent Village Super Market Inc.

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., the parent company of SuperFresh, filed for bankruptcy protection last year. It auctioned 12 SuperFresh stores, all but one in Maryland, as part of its restructuring plan. That has opened the door for other grocery chains to expand in Greater Baltimore. Fresh & Green's opened in the former SuperFresh downtown and plans to replace the former store in Hampden. Shoppers Food opened this month in Ellicott City.

Located at Fairgrounds Plaza, the Timonium ShopRite store will include a bakery, pharmacy, and full-service floral department. It will also feature an international aisle and prepared foods with hot entrees and side dishes, soups, brick-oven pizza, an olive bar, a salad bar and sushi.

An on-site registered dietitian will be on hand to educate customers on preparing healthful meals and proper nutrition. Customers can also take weekly cooking classes taught by professional chefs.

"It's a great opportunity for date night, a fun family activity, or a get-together with friends," Sumas says.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: William Sumas, ShopRite

The namesake section of the Station North Arts, Entertainment & Design district is about to get an overhaul. A master developer is being sought for the 1.5-acre parcel of land directly north of Penn Station via request for qualifications (RFQ), with an application deadline of August 5, 2011.

The Lanvale Street transit-oriented development (TOD) initiative is being led by state, national, and local stakeholders that include Amtrak, the Maryland Department of Transportation, Central Baltimore Partnership, and the City of Baltimore.

Joe McNeely, Executive Director of the Central Baltimore Partnership, notes that over $400 million has been invested in building up Central Baltimore, which includes Station North, in recent years.

"The development of the Lanvale lot and Penn Station give the city of Baltimore the opportunity to remake this historic train station as an iconic regional destination not only for travel but also for residential and commercial uses," McNeely says.

 
Writer: Sam Hopkins
Source: Joe McNeely, Central Baltimore Partnership

In cooperation with One Green Home at a Time, a home rehabilitation company building energy-efficient homes in East Baltimore, the Pat Tillman Foundation brought over 90 military veterans to the Oliver neighborhood for a clean-up day on July 11. Pulling weeds, clearing debris, and straightening fences, "We pretty much covered the majority of the Oliver community," says Earl Johnson, Executive Director of One Green Home at a Time and himself an Army veteran.

An estimated 200 more volunteers from local non-profit organizations The 6th Branch, Baltimore BORN, One Green Home, Baltimore Love Project, and the Veteran Artist Program joined nearly 100 Tillman Military Scholars in their day of service coordinated with the Pat Tillman Legacy Summit, which is named for the former college and professional football star who was killed by friendly fire while serving as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan.

One Green Home at a Time and its financial arm, Bridge Private Lending, purchased 40 homes in the Oliver neighborhood from the city in May and is currently coordinating funds for complete renovation. The 3-window-wide rowhomes are eligible for historic tax credits and will be standardized to share energy-efficient floor plans and other design features.


Writer: Sam Hopkins
Source: Earl Johnson, One Green Home at a Time

In June, the Living Classrooms Foundation broke ground on a new youth sports field in Patterson Park with the support of Under Armour and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation. As that project moves forward, Living Classrooms is adapting a historic two-story firehouse on Caroline Street in the Perkins Homes community.

The first floor of the firehouse will include a multi-purpose space for after-school programming to add to the Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center on East Fayette Street. The first floor will also include a community technology center. The second floor will hold offices for Living Classrooms staff and the Perkins Homes Tenant Council as well as conference rooms and space for community health fairs.

Perkins Homes is part of the Living Classrooms Target Investment Zone in East Baltimore, and the firehouse will be renovated with the help of participants in Project SERVE, Living Classrooms' initiative to lower recidivism and raise the employment rate among those re-entering Baltimore communities following incarceration.


Writer: Sam Hopkins
Source: Talib Horne, Living Classrooms

The head of Baltimore's Marion I. and Henry J. Knott Foundation says an expansion of Maryland's million-dollar Community Investment Tax Credit program to include corporate donors could help non-profit organizations expand their physical investments in the city, in addition to boosting programming.

"When I directed Light Street Housing, we used the CITC program to develop new relationships and garner tens of thousands of increased donations," says Knott Foundation executive director Greg Cantori.

Under the CITC, organizations that have received grants from foundations or other grantmakers can distribute tax credits to donors in order to spur more strategic giving. Donors, in turn, receive a tax credit that can be added to state and federal deductions the same year, or rolled over for as many as five years.

Donors can find non-profit organizations that match their giving goals and have available tax credits on the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development's GIVE Maryland site, here: http://www.mdhousing.org/givemaryland/


Writer: Sam Hopkins
Source: Greg Cantori, Knott Foundation

Federal Hill has gotten a fresh jolt of sugar and java.

Afters Caf� opened this month at 1001 S. Charles St., serving up frozen yogurt, espresso, and pastries from Patisserie Poupon. Peter Hahn and his brother Andrew Hahn wanted to open a family-friendly place in the South Baltimore neighborhood.

"Me and my brother wanted to open a place where moms and kids can have some ice cream," Peter Hahn says. "There aren't that many places where you can take your kids."

Though the brothers live in Howard County, they wanted to open the business in the city to capitalize on the FroYo craze. And the market for that is already pretty saturated in Howard County.

Hahn says he tried to incorporate a contemporary design in the 25-seat restaurant to mimic the look and feel of European caf�s.

After spending six months in Italy last year, Hahn vowed to open a caf� like the ones he saw in Europe.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Peter Hahn, Afters

The waterside patio at McCormick & Schmick's got a new, contemporary look this month -- its first facelift since the Inner Harbor seafood restaurant opened a decade ago.

It now has 70 tables, or 20 more than it used to, and 275 seats.

Restaurant managers were going for a "resort-style" feel with the patio's sofas and high-top cocktail tables, says Jay Twardowski, the Portland, Ore., chain's regional manager.

It makes good business sense for McCormick & Schmick's to invest in the great outdoors. On a nice summer day the restaurant gets as much as half of its sales from the 4,700-square-foot patio, Twardowski says.

"We felt that we became a little bit dated and we wanted to reinvigorate the patio as the place to be in the city."

Twardowski declined to say how much the restaurant is spending on the renovation. The makeover is part of a national plan to invest in many of its restaurant properties. Meanwhile, M&S Grill at Harborplace last month got new floors and carpets.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Jay Twardowski, McCormick & Schmick's

The developer of a fire-ravaged Mount Vernon building is in the final stages of getting city permits to begin construction as soon as next month.

The building at 800 N. Charles contained Donna's, Indigma, MyThai, and several offices. Indigma will open temporarily across the street until its original home is ready. And Donna's Co-Owner Alan Hirsch says he plans to reopen the restaurant with a wine bar and tapas menu.

The Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation has given developer Dominic Wiker the OK to proceed with the design. Final demolition will begin this week and construction will begin later this summer, he says.

Wiker said in a statement that he expects to have a better idea of the number of tenants in the building by the end of July.

The new structure will feature a few contemporary touches, says Steven Shen, chairman of the architectural review committee of the Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association. It will include a skylight and an all-glass entrance. It will also house a patio on the fifth floor.

Last year's five-alarm fire gutted the building and took out the roof.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Dominic Wiker; Steven Shen, Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association

A restaurant with a waterfront view and seasonal menu will open by September at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park. Designed by Patrick Sutton, the 75-seat Vu at Living Classrooms will feature a menu crafted by Corks' Jerry Pellegrino and cost more than $900,000 to build.

Foundation staff are calling the Vu a "seed-to-plate" restaurant, because it will serve produce grown at Living Classrooms Foundation's after-school gardening program, says Richard Slingluff, the nonprofit's facilities manager. That program is known as Baltimore Urban Gardening With Students, or BUGS.

"We're excited to work with our students to get as much student-grown produce to be served at a high-end restaurant one block away," Slingluff says.

The first-floor restaurant will feature floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Domino Sugar factory and Fort McHenry, Living Classrooms CEO James Piper Bond says.

The restaurant will hopefully bring in revenue to support the maritime park, Bond says.

On Mondays, restaurant employees will provide hospitality and culinary training to Living Classrooms' students. The nonprofit oversees after-school and job training programs for at-risk youth.

"It's a beautiful space on the water," Pellegrino says. "How can you beat that?"


Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: James Piper Bond, Richard Slingluff, Living Classrooms; Jerry Pellegrino, Corks

Ethan Allen Design Center is opening a store at Annapolis Towne Centre this summer with a new store layout that is the first of its kind in the mid-Atlantic.

The 8,550-square-foot shop will sell furniture and accessories and feature technology that will make buying sofas and fabric a more interactive experience.

The store will include "inspiration labs" with design ideas for five different lifestyles, says Kathy Bliss, regional design manager for the Danbury, Conn., firm. Clients' lifestyle choices are elegance, modern, romance, explorer, and vintage.

Buyers can use touchscreen monitors to preview their purchases, and use design software to see room layout options and images of each lifestyle.

The Annapolis Towne Centre shop replaces a larger store at 2401 Solomons Island Rd. that closed in December.

Ethan Allen executives wanted the store to go into the "popular lifestyle shopping destination," Bliss says.

The outdoor mall's home retailers include Restoration Hardware, Arhaus Furniture, Great Gatherings, Bed Bath & Beyond, Desi Living, and Sur La Table.

Developed by Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp., Annapolis Towne Centre is a $500 million retail, office and residential complex that houses a Main Street-style town center. Its other stores include Whole Foods Market, Brio Tuscan Grill, and Target.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Kathy Bliss, Ethan Allen

Baltimore Washington Medical Center is adding a $1.3 million X-Ray machine that will allow it to perform more non-invasive procedures and enhance its women's services.

Construction on the Siemens Interventional Room began last month and will finish in August. The new machine will allow the Glen Burnie hospital to perform uterine fibroid embolizations, or a minimally invasive treatment of fibroid tumors, says BWMC Director of Radiology Dr. Jim Cary.

"We're excited to offer this to anyone in Maryland," Cary says.

The machine replaces 14-year-old equipment and offers better imaging quality.

A woman undergoing the procedure can recover within 24 hours and return to work within two or three days, says Dr. Zina Novak, BWMC's medical director of radiology services.

The hospital is renovating the interventional radiology room with new lighting, storage, cabinets, and lounge for technologists.


Writer, Julekha Dash
Sources, Dr. Jim Cary, Dr. Zina Novak, BWMC

Call it a kitchen stadium. Call it a restaurant within a restaurant.

Matthew Milani has a tough time coming up with a word to describe the expansion he is planning for Rumor Mill Fusion Bar & Restaurant in September.

He's installing an open-air kitchen where diners will feast on a 25-course meal composed of molecular gastronomic concoctions. They might include upscale Jello shooters that can freeze without ice or sous-vide duck with cherries. Guests will pay between $75 and $125 per meal.

Milani is hoping that a concept like Minibar, the six-seat restaurant in Washington, D.C., spearheaded by James Beard-award winner Jose Andres, will work for the small-plate restaurant in historic downtown Ellicott City.

Incorporating molecular gastronomy into the small plate restaurant offers his cooks a chance to "go crazy." And cooking demonstrations are big in the foodie world now.

"Talking to the chef is now part of the meal," Milani says. Diners feel like they get an added value if they get to interact with the chef.

The owner expects to spend less than $3,000 on the 20-seat kitchen stadium if he buys a lot of equipment at auction.

"We believe this is something that can set us apart," Milani says.

Local food blogger Dara Bunjon says Milani's venture is unique to the Baltimore area.

"There might be chefs here in Baltimore creating molecular gastronomy, but not 20-plus courses."

A real estate firm that has plans to develop more shopping at Canton Crossing says it's in active discussions with as many as 20 prospective retailers, including Harris Teeter and Target.

Earlier this month, Chesapeake Real Estate Group and Birchwood Capital Partners said it had acquired a 31-acre parcel from Exxon Mobil Corp. with the goal of adding two new retail centers on the site. The first will break ground spring of next year, with 225,000 square feet of retail space. The second site, with 100,000 square feet, will break ground once Exxon Mobil fully leaves the property.

The site is adjacent to Edwin F. Hale Sr.'s First Mariner Tower and the Merritt Athletic Club.

Real estate brokers had been trying to woo Target and Harris Teeter to Canton Crossing to the site since at least 2008, but development stalled as the economy sputtered.

Chesapeake principal Neil Tucker says electronics, grocery, convenience stores would all be suitable for the area. The Baltimore firm is looking at tenants that would complement existing retail in the area, which includes Merritt Athletic Club and About Faces Day Spa and Salon.

A Baltimore nonprofit recently broke ground on a $9.2 million homeless shelter facing Patterson Park.

Dayspring Baltimore is constructing a 43,000-square foot building at 1125 N. Patterson Park Ave. that will house 22 families, four Head Start classrooms and offices for the nonprofit's 37 employees.

Funding for the facility comes from the New Market Tax Credit equity, city and state funds, the Weinberg and Abell Foundations and PNC Bank.  

Dayspring Programs Inc. provides housing, substance abuse treatment an support services to homeless families. It has an operating budget of around $4.4 million and serves 600 individuals.

The former owner of Fells Point megabar Bohager's is getting on the food truck bandwagon.

Damian Bohager and commercial real estate broker Clark Bowman launched the 30-foot-long Silver Platter food trailer earlier this month, serving up lobster rolls, firecracker shrimp, seared scallops with creamed corn and prosciutto and braised sweet onion brisket. Food items cost between $8 and $14.

The trailer is parked in a lot at the intersection of Central and Eastern Avenues in East Baltimore. Eventually, the pair will launch three more in the city, which will cost about $200,000, Bohager says.

Silver Platter joins the long list of Baltimore food trucks that includes Miss Shirley's, Kooper's Chowhound Burger, Iced Gems, Juana Burrito and Curbside Caf�. Earlier this month, the city created food truck zones and temporarily lifted some restrictions on the vehicles' operations.

Bohager hopes to get "thousands" of foodies and vendors to come to his July 8 food truck rally to show support for the businesses.

Cited by Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot for not paying nearly $600,000 in taxes in 2010, Bohager says he is negotiating with the state to pay off what is remaining of his debts. He also says he never had any intention of opening another bar, contrary to some media reports that ran earlier this year.

Bohager says he prefers operating a food truck, which he can operate with just two employees, rather than the nearly 200 he had to manage at Bohager's.

The trailer is equipped with a full restaurant kitchen, ice machine, four-burner stove and oven, griddle, refrigerator freezer and sandwich unit. It also holds a credit/debit machine.

Silver Platter's Executive Chef Christopher Cherry has worked for the former Polo Grill, Tabrizi's and the Crab Shanty Restaurant.