Commercial Real Estate : Development News

Columbia life sciences company Martek Corp. is expanding its headquarters and renovating its laboratory space as it continues to grow.

The company is taking an additional 22,000 square feet at 6480 Dobbin Rd., where it employs 220 of its 585 employees worldwide. That will give it a total of 88,000 square feet at the Columbia Business Center. The company did not disclose financial terms of the lease.

Martek makes nutritional oils derived from algae that are used in baby formula, dietary supplements and food products, such as yogurt, olive oil and juice.
 
The company recently acquired Connecticut health and wellness company Amerifit Brands Inc. But Martek spokeswoman Cassandra France-Kelly says the new office space will accommodate recent hires. The company has hired nearly 60 employees in the past 12 months with plans to add five more in the areas of research and technology.

It is also renovating its 23,000-square-foot lab at its headquarters to support new biofuel programs. Last year, Martek struck an agreement with BP PLC to produce biodiesels made from sugar. The renovation will allow it to identify new products for the pharmaceutical and food industry.

France-Kelly says the company stayed in its space because Columbia is a convenient location. Sandwiched in between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Columbia can attract employees from both locations, she says. Known for its public schools, Columbia is a good community to sell to prospective employees, she says. The spot is also accessible to the airport and train station.

"The community has been our home for a long time," France-Kelly says. "We've continued to enjoy being here."

Source: Cassandra France-Kelly, Martek
Writer: Julekha Dash

Jim Lancaster wasn't initially interested in the space at the historic Harbor East property known as the Bagby building.

Lancaster, who also owns lunch spots Rosina Gourmet, thought the location was too close to his downtown and Canton venues. But after some discussions with the landlord Chesapeake Real Estate LLC, Lancaster decided he could tap into a new market �  the after dark, red-and-white swilling crowd � by opening a wine bar.

Construction on Vino Rosina recently began and the restaurant at 507 S. Exeter Street will be open by the end of April, Lancaster says.

The 2,200-square-foot store will seat about 100, and is Lancaster's largest to date. It will feature his staple gourmet sandwiches and salads, but made with more "esoteric" ingredients like microgreens. Also on the menu will be flatbreads, crab dip, cheese, and wines by the glass.  The wines will hail from Bordeaux, Italy, California, and South America and cost between $6 and $13 per glass.

Lancaster hopes the Harbor East location can draw foot traffic from residents residing in the neighborhood's apartments and condominiums, and tourists staying at various hotels in the area.

As more businesses like Legg Mason and Morgan Stanley move to Harbor East, Lancaster hopes the suit-and-tie crowd will come to Vino Rosina as well.

To design the new space, Lancaster hired SMG Architects Inc. � the same company that designed the warm, rustic Woodberry Kitchen in Clipper Mill. Vino Rosina will also sport a natural look, displaying cypress, hickory and other woods, along with along with leather and stainless steel.


Source: Jim Lancaster, Vino Rosina
Writer: Julekha Dash

An Italian restaurant owner will be serving up some penne and pizza in a new Timonium store. Pasta Mista will open its third location within the next month at 2135 York Road, across from the Timonium Fairgrounds. The other two Pasta Mistas are located in Towson and Canton.

The 2,500-square-foot restaurant will be Davide Scotti's biggest restaurant to date. Scotti is investing more than $100,000 to open the 70-seat eatery.

Part of the attraction of the new location at Timonium Square Shopping Center for Scotti was that the shopping center received an extensive makeover by Kimco Realty Corp last summer. The renovation included new signage, storefront canopies and a 55,000-square-foot shopping center.

Pasta Mista is taking space in the former Cheeburger, Cheeburger spot. The owners hadn't been looking for a new location, but when they were presented with a good deal on the rent, they couldn't pass it up, Scotti says.

He also thought Timonium had a good client base for him. Many patrons of the Towson store live or work in Timonium.

Scotti opened the 1,800-square-foot Towson location nine years ago with Gianluca Astori, his business partner who grew up in the same town outside of Naples, Italy.

Two years ago, the pair branched out to Canton. The casual restaurants serve pizza, salads, pasta, subs and chicken parmesan.

Though it is a tough time for some restaurants to stay in business, Scotti says he hopes his can continue to pull in customers by keeping prices low. Entrees cost about $8 while a large cheese pizza costs about $11. 


Source: Davide Scotti, Pasta Mista
Writer: Julekha Dash

High-end shopping in Annapolis is about to get a makeover. Nordstrom Inc. is renovating its Westfield Annapolis Mall store --  one of the mall's anchor tenants -- for the first time since it opened in 1994.

New light fixtures, merchandise displays, restrooms and dressing rooms will greet Annapolis customers of the Seattle department store chain known for its designer brands and unique customer service gestures, such as sending thank-you cards to clients after purchases.

"We're improving the store experience at the Annapolis location," says Nordstrom spokesman Colin Johnson. "The store is ready to be refreshed."

Johnson declined to say how much the company will spend on the renovation, which will also include new carpeting and paint. The 162,000-square-foot store will remain open during the renovation, to begin next month.

Nordstrom completed a similar makeover of its store at Towson Town Center a few years ago.

"We know we have a lot of great customers in this area," Johnson  says.  "It's important to continue to invest in existing stores as well as open new stores. We're trying to do a better job of creating a great store experience."

To prepare for the Annapolis store renovation, the company has signed a lease for a 36,000-square-foot warehouse space in Rosedale with Merritt Properties LLC. The temporary property at 8993 Yellow Brick Rd. will supply the company with materials and equipment to refurbish the Annapolis store and to build a new store opening next year in Wilmington, Del.
 
Nordstrom operates 184 stores in 28 states. The company pulls in about $8.4 billion in annual sales.


Source: Colin Johnson, Nordstrom
Writer: Julekha Dash

Consumers in Greater Baltimore will soon have more choices for buying flat-screen TVs, refrigerators and iPods. Electronics store hhgregg will open five stores this spring in Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, marking one of the region's biggest retail expansions in years. A sixth store, a distribution center, will open in Brandywine, in Prince George's County.

The Indianapolis, Ind.-company is spending around $2.7 million to open each new store this year, according to public financial documents. That means it will invest about $14 million in the Greater Baltimore region. Each store occupies around 30,000 square feet.

The company is capitalizing on cheaper real estate by expanding at a time when many chains are scaling back, says Jeff Pearson, hhgregg's vice president of marketing.

Hhgregg also sees a void in the consumer electronics market since  Circuit City went out of business shuttering all of its stores nationwide last year. Four of the new hhgregg stores will land in former Circuit City locations. One outlet, at 6711 Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie, is the site of a former Best Buy that moved across the street earlier this month to 6722 Ritchie Highway.

The other hhgregg stores will be located at:
• 6026 Baltimore National Pike, Catonsville;
• 7667 Arundel Mills Boulevard, Hanover;
• 801 Goucher Boulevard, Towson;
• 14301 Mattawoman Drive, Brandywine; and,
• 150 Jennifer Road, Annapolis.

The electornics retailer put Baltimore on its expansion map because of it's high household income, population density and an interest among residents in buying electronics, Pearson says. Baltimore ranks No. 3 on its list of cities in which it will add new stores this year, after Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

In choosing a location, hhgregg looks for areas that contain a number of retailers � including competing big-box retailers like Best Buy and Home Depot, Pearson says. That way, it can catch the eye of shoppers on the hunt for new gadgets.

Hhgregg currently operates around 130 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. It pulls in about $1.4 billion in annual sales.

Sources: Jeff Pearson, hhgregg
Writer: Julekha Dash

A British invasion is eating into Howard County. Union Jack's, a British-style pub and restaurant, will open this month at the Mall in Columbia. Located at a pad site next to the mall, Union Jack's replaces That's Amore, which closed in the fall.

Union Jack's  owners currently operate two other namesake eateries: Union Jack's British Pub of Bethesda and Union Jack's British Pub in Ballston, Va.  

The 9,500-square-foot Columbia venue will focus more on the restaurant side of the business, versus the bar, compared with the other locations, co-owner Gary Ouellette says. Of course, Union Jack's will feature the standard British pub fare like fish and chips and bangers and mash. But it will also sell more "upscale" American fare, including filet mignon and seafood entrees, Oullette says. 

Main dishes will cost between $12 and $20 while appetizers will cost around $8.

Located at 10400 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Union Jack's will employ 100 and cost about $750,000 to build, Ouellette says. He expects the mall location should draw affluent shoppers from around the county. Howard County has a median household income of $101,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"It seemed like a logical pick for us to go to an area that has a strong economic pool," Ouellette says. "It seems to be an area where there is a lot of energy and a lot of momentum."

With each restaurant pulling in between $3 million and $5 million per year, Union Jack's restaurants have managed to keep the crowds coming in spite of a tough economy, Oullette says. The restaurants feature live music, billiards and shuffleboard.

Source: Gary Ouellette, Union Jack's
Writer: Julekha Dash

Ned Atwater could have baked bread in a brand new facility.

But the businessman didn't want to take the easy way out when he opened his latest bakery and retail store last month in a historic building in Catonsville.

Picking charm over convenience came with a price tag, however. Atwater plucked down $200,000 to open Atwater's Naturally Leavened Bread. He says he spent that money renovating the 100-year-old building, including upgrading the utilities and plumbing for the 2,700-square-foot store.

He received some financial assistance from the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development with a $60,000, zero-interest loan that the county offers for businesses that open in areas that have been targeted for revitalization efforts.

But spending the extra dough was worth it Atwater. "I love old buildings," he says. Renting out a single-story warehouse would have cost about one-third less, he estimates. But the Catonsville store is located in the town's main thoroughfare � accessible to folks who want to walk to pick up a loaf of bread.

"I wanted to have a neighborhood bakery in town right," Atwater says.

The location is also close to several businesses, including an antiques store and a couple of restaurants, which means he should get steady foot traffic.

"I think we're in the right place," he says.

The bakery includes a full kitchen, where Atwater bakes his baked goods to supply his four other locations in Annapolis, Towson, Lutherville and in Baltimore's Belvedere Square shopping center.

Why Catonsville? Atwater lives in the Baltimore County town.

"I always wanted to do something in the town where I lived," he says. Abundant with historic buildings, Catonsville has a real "neighborhood feel," making it not that different from his flagship store in Belvedere Square, he says.

Atwater, whose five stores employ 125, says he would like to open other stores in Greater Baltimore, though he doesn't know where yet.

Source: Ned Atwater, Atwater's
Writer: Julekha Dash

The economy may have soured some business plans. But for Scott Nash, things couldn't be better.

MOM's �My Organic Market, Nash's 23-year-old business, is planning a major expansion this year.

The Rockville-based grocer, which Nash describes as a cross between Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's, plans to open two more stores by the end of the year. One will be in Greater Baltimore, and possibly the Timonium area where MOM's has signed a letter of intent for a new store. Nash declined to identify the location. The second store will likely be in Northern Virginia, he says.

Opening a new score costs MOM's anywhere between $500,000 to $1.5 million.

MOM's will be expanding its Columbia store from 8,000 to 10,000 square feet and its College Park store from 5,000 to 8,000 square feet in the next few months. Nash says the company is doing well in spite of the recession. One reason is that people are looking to save money by cooking meals at home. MOM's sells more produce, rather than prepared foods.

So in 2010, the company is going to take advantage of the good real estate deals and availability of labor.
 
"It's time to begin an aggressive expansion," Nash says.

The company just opened its sixth store in Bowie this month after seeing an untapped market. Having grown up in Prince George's County, Nash knows the area is often overlooked by the major chains, with no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods in the area. Bowie is also in between Annapolis and the Washington, D.C., beltway, making it a good location to draw customers from both areas, Nash says.

Located at the Hilltop Plaza shopping center, off Route 3, the Bowie store is also located at a busy intersection that gets a lot of traffic from the surrounding area, Nash says.


Source: Scott Nash, MOM's
Writer: Julekha Dash

"How come there are no Sonics here?" That's a common refrain you'll hear from folks who move from the Deep South to the Greater Baltimore region.

But two local entrepreneurs are making sure that Maryland is no longer deprived of the drive-in burger joint that enjoys a cult-like following of sorts.

Franchisees David Crocetti and Sean Martin will open at least nine Sonics over the next few years, including sites in Randallstown, Lansdowne, Ellicott City, Elkton, and Edgewater. They are also scouting locations in Columbia, Catonsville, and Westminster.

Its Randallstown location will open first, either in late spring or summer, Martin says. Next on the list will be Lansdowne, which will open in the fall, followed by Ellicott City.

Martin and Crocetti declined to say how much they are investing to open the new stores.  However, franchisees can expect to spend anywhere between $700,000 to $3 million per store, according to Sonic Corp.'s Web site. Each store requires about an acre's worth of property.

The partners are now busy hiring the roughly 100 workers who will staff the Randallstown store. They chose the spot on Liberty Road because it is right off the Baltimore beltway and should attract good drive-by traffic.
 
For folks who can't wait to eat Sonic's chili-cheese hot dogs, limeade chillers and tater tots, the business partners have a message: Be patient. It can take nine months to negotiate a lease and work through the zoning and permit process, Crocetti says. So getting the nine stores throughout the Greater Baltimore area won't happen overnight.

Sonic customers order their food at a drive-in window and get their food from a "carhop" � who might even wear roller skates. The Oklahoma-based chain has been expanding northward in recent years as company officials realized that folks in colder states will still eat Sonic burgers in their cars. 

Maryland is a good area to expand because of its high income level, population density and diversity, Martin says.


Source: Sean Martin and David Crocetti, Sonic
Writer: Julekha Dash

A fast-growing beauty school is betting its lipstick and mascara on Baltimore. Regency Beauty Institute of Minneapolis has opened a new campus at 8660 Pulaski Highway in Rosedale, with classes to begin in March.

And the company has plans to open more schools in the region, spokesman Paul Kriloff says. The company invests between $750,000 and $1 million in each school, whose sizes range from 6,000 to 7,000 square feet. Kriloff could not say yet where the other new locations will be located.

Regency opened 17 new campuses last year and is counting on similar growth this year. The 50-year-old company currently operates 60 campuses in 17 states.

In choosing a new location, Regency looks for an area where this is strong job demand and skilled faculty that can offer its classes on hair cutting, nail care and skin care. Baltimore offered both, Kriloff says.

"We have been impressed with the caliber of people who have expressed interest in joining our team," he says. The Baltimore school will employ about seven.

Regency chose the Pulaski Highway spot because it is easy for students to get to and is located in a busy neighborhood with a strong retail environment. The 6,400-square-foot Rosedale building is near Route 40 and the Golden Ring Mall Shopping Center.
 
The school offers 18 to 20 classes a year that cost between $16,000 and $18,000 per year. New full-time classes begin every four weeks while part-time classes begin every eight weeks.

H&R Retail LLC's Geoffrey Mackler brokered the real estate deal locally on behalf of Regency.

Regency will open new campuses this year in Arkansas, Indianapolis and in Manassas, Va.

Source: Paul Kriloff, Regency Beauty Institute
Writer: Julekha Dash

Baltimore's biggest credit union is expanding its presence in Harford and Howard Counties. The State Employees Credit Union (SECU) opened its 19th branch in Bel Air Feb. 8, its first Harford County location. And early next year, it will move one of its Columbia branch locations to a bigger spot, says SECU Vice President of Marketing Peggy Young.

Relocating its Columbia branch from Long Reach Village Center to 8630 Snowden River Parkway will give it a better location that is easier to get to and has better parking, Young says. The 4,500-square-foot space is also bigger than its current branch, which will allow it to better serve customers in that area.

SECU spent $1.9 million to purchase the Bel Air property at the busy intersection of Plum Tree Road and Route 24. SECU executives liked the fact that there are a number of businesses surrounding its new location, including Target, Barnes & Noble, Staples and Home Depot.

SECU has nearly 250,000 members and $2 billion in assets. It employs 530. With 35,000 members, Harford County accounts for 14 percent of its total membership.

"Harford seems like a natural choice, " Young says. "It's a growing area."

The credit union also liked the area's demographics. The median household income is $72,000, according to the U.S. Census. The location is also close to Interstate 95 and therefore accessible to commuters, Young says.

One feature of the new branch includes the use of "remote" tellers. These tellers work behind a wall and serve customers via a video monitor. That way, when one customer is filling out a deposit slip, the teller can help out another client, Young says.

Source: Peggy Young, SECU
Writer: Julekha Dash

Everyone dreams of owning their own winery. And Monica Beeman wants to make that dream a reality.

The entrepreneur is starting a custom wine-making business called Vines to Vino, and has set her sights on the long-vacant Mama Cellina property in Little Italy.

Beeman's concept is this: You select the kind of wine you want. Let's say, a Chilean Chardonnay. Vines to Vino gets the grapes from the South American country. You press them on site once the grapes come in. Then six months later, you take it out of the barrel and bottle it. Then you bottle it and create your own wine label.

The whole process takes about 6 to 12 months, depending on the varietal. Customers pay anywhere from $450 for an eighth of a barrel to $3,250 for a full barrel.  Beeman has tapped Chris Kent, a winemaker at Woodhall Vineyards and Wine Cellars, to help her blend the reds and whites.

Beeman got the idea after seeing similar concepts in New Jersey. She hopes Baltimore takes a big gulp out of the idea. A former director of marketing for the Center Club, Beeman is investing more than $200,000 in the new business.

Initially, she had hoped to open a store in Harbor East. But unable to find the right space, her broker at MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services LLC showed her a spot at 300 Albemarle Street that is undergoing a renovation by its owner Steve Himmelfarb. The Washington, D.C., developer paid $1.1 million to buy the property in 2005 from Orioles owner Peter Angelos. 

She decided on Little Italy because it was a good location after all as it is close to Harbor East, a swanky part of town whose residents would hopefully be receptive to a custom wine shop. It is also close to the Inner Harbor.

Beeman hopes to open the store in April.

Source: Monica Beeman, Vines to Vino
Writer: Julekha Dash

Most business owners wouldn't want to open their doors during a snowstorm. But James Butler was forced to do just that when a heavier-than-expected dose of the white stuff hit Baltimore Jan. 30  �  opening day for Butler's new business, Perfecto Coffeehouse.

The snow didn't deter residents from showing their support for the newest Pigtown business. Nearly 100 people showed up at 784 Washington Boulevard, Butler says.

The Ohio native who currently resides in Washington, D.C., has spent $20,000 of his own money to open the 1,000-square-foot shop. He saw the Pigtown neighborhood as a good opportunity to get in on a neighborhood early on. Pigtown still hasn't reached its full potential, unlike other neighborhoods, such as Harbor East or Mount Vernon, Butler says.

"PIgtown is still in the revitalization stage," Butler says. "I want to get in when it's good."

Butler saw encouraging signs that the neighborhood is taking off. A wine shop and Caribbean restaurant are set to open in the coming months on the same block and a gallery and hair salon opened their doors in recent months. (See related story).

Butler says he's wanted to open a coffee shop for five years but it never came to fruition until a friend told him about the space available in Pigtown. He hopes to soon call Baltimore home for himself and not just his business.

"I look at Baltimore as one of the few lasting gems on the East Coast," Butler says. "You can still get good residential and commercial property at a reasonable cost in nice areas.  We couldn't do what we do in Manhattan or Philadelphia because the cost would be prohibitive."

The caf� is open seven days a week and sells coffee from Baltimore's Zeke's Coffee. The shop also sells baked goods, paninis, salads and, on the weekends, waffles.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: James Butler, Perfecto Coffeehouse

A new chef and owner is saying "ciao" to Locust Point's Pazza Luna.

Milan native Davide Rossi and his wife Christa have taken over the neighborhood eatery at 1401 E. Clement St. from Riccardo Bosio. The owner of Mount Vernon's Sotto Sopra, Bosio owned the trattoria for more than three years.

Rossi says he plans to add a host of new Northern Italian menu items to the 65-seat restaurant, which he started running Feb. 2.

The Rossis come to Baltimore after six years running Ports of Italy in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The couple have put that restaurant up for sale, though if it doesn't get a buyer, Rossi will hire a manager to run it during the busy summer months. 

The two decided to make the move in part because Christa is from Baltimore. Rossi also likes the people and culinary scene here.
"I love Baltimore," Rossi says. "There's great food, great people, great restaurants."

He was also impressed with the receptiveness of his Locust Point neighbors. When they heard that Pazza Luna was getting a new owner, they introduced themselves."That doesn't happen very often in big cities," Rossi says.

Rossi says he his not sure if he will renovate the restaurant's interior. But he is planning a big makeover of the menu. His signature dishes will include lobster ravioli with mascarpone; rack of lamb with a sambuca demi-glaze and beef tenderloin with a gorgonzola brandy truffle sauce. He will also feature fresh pasta and risotto.


Source: Davide Rossi, Pazza Luna
Writer: Julekha Dash

Leaders at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are seeking greener pastures.

School officials are pursuing a silver LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for four medical research buildings. Its facilities management office and computer teaching lab, located at 2024 E. Monument St., have already received a Silver LEED certification for commercial interiors. The renovated building is the first office in all of Johns Hopkins' campuses to achieve LEED status. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

"It shows the institution is serious about the environment and reducing our carbon footprint," says Jack Grinnalds, senior director of facilities management at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
 
In its application to the U.S. Green Building Council, Hopkins officials had to show that the school has plenty of parking and is close to public transportation, Grinnalds says.

Is other green initiatives that helped it achieve LEED status include:
• Reducing water consumption by 40 percent;
• Relying on regionally manufactured materials for nearly one-third of the materials used in its renovation. That reduces the need to transport materials and saves on energy costs; and,
• Relying on sensors so lights are turned off when the offices are not in use.

"It's quite a thrill and an honor," says Grinnalds of receiving the Silver LEED certification. "We've been working on this stuff for years and its finally getting to the point where we can get some publicity on it."

The school will know later this month whether its four research buildings will receive LEED certification.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Jack Grinnalds, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine