retail : Development News

From children’s hair-braiding to a market stocked with locally grown produce, Hamilton-Lauraville is home to several new and soon-to-open businesses.

Last week, Kinkx Studio, a kid-focused braiding studio opened at 2926 E. Cold Spring Lane. The studio serves children aged three to 14. The studio relocated from Charles Village from an office building to attract more traffic, says owner and CEO, Angelique Redmond.

The studio recently offered a deal on Living Social and more than 100 deals have been purchased, Redmond says. The studio also provides free movies, music, games, and refreshments for its young clients.

Redmond invested about $10,000 in the move, and the business currently has three employees.

On May 1, Supportech MD Inc. will open at 4517 Harford Rd. The business provides computer support for small businesses and will also offer drop-off computer repair services. Previously located in Towson, the relocation gives the business more space for the price, says owner John Lemonds.

For those looking for fresh, local food options, the long-anticipated Green Onion Market will open this spring, likely in May, says Regina Lansinger, director of Hamilton Lauraville Main Street.

Last year owner Winston Blick compared the market to a cross between Atwater’s and Milk & Honey Market.

Sources:
Regina Lansinger, director of Hamilton Lauraville Main Street
Angelique Redmond, owner of Kinkx Studio
John Lemonds, owner of Supportech MD Inc.

Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]

Soon you’ll be able to pick up a spicy tuna roll and chardonnay before you fly on AirTran Airways or Southwest Airlines.

A sushi restaurant by the name of Gachi will open late spring at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, airport spokesman Jonathan Dean confirmed. It will be located in the food court in Concourse A, according to the county liquor board.

Adding new shops and restaurants is a priority for the airport as airport traffic picks up, Dean says. BWI had a record year last year with 22,391,785 passengers.

“The airport is working to add a number of concessions,” Dean says. He couldn’t specify the type of concessions.

BWI wants to beef up offerings in Concourse A/B since AirTran shifted its operation there following its merger with Southwest Airlines, Dean says.

Gachi received a special airport concessionaire license, which allows it to sell any kind of alcoholic beverage.

Inez M. Setiabudi and Daniel Kurniawan, listed as the holders of the liquor license, could not be reached for comment. 

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Jonathan Dean, BWI; Anne Arundel County liquor board 

Seafood restaurant chain Bonefish Grill is eyeing Anne Arundel County for two new locations.

The Anne Arundel County liquor board this month granted a liquor license to open at Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole, an outdoor mall anchored by Whole Foods, Target and Restoration Hardware.
 
The 199-seat restaurant will have outdoor dining for 28 and replaces the shuttered Real Seafood Co., says liquor board administrator Judy J. Hagner. The restaurant received a deluxe liquor license, which requires that the owner invest at least $800,000 to open the property.
 
The restaurant chain also applied for a liquor license at the Village of Waugh Chapel in Gambrills, but the attorney asked to postpone the meeting in order to secure all the necessary paperwork, Hagner says. The next hearing will be held June 12.
 
A PR rep for Bonefish Grill says the company isn’t ready to release any information about the new locations. Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp., the developer for both sites, could not be reached for comment.
 
Bonefish Grill is one of the restaurant concepts of Tampa, Fla.-based OSI Restaurant Partners LLC. That’s the same company that is behind Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Roy’s, Outback Steakhouse and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar.
 
Maryland currently houses six Bonefish Grill locations in Glen Burnie, Bel Air, Owings Mills, Frederick, Brandywine and Gaithersburg. 

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Judy Hagner and Edward Aronson, Anne Arundel County liquor board 

Construction on the new location of Teavolve and Milk & Honey Market will begin later this month in the John G. Rangos Sr. Building at The Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins for a planned August opening.
 
The 3,300-square-foot East Baltimore location will be a partnership between Milk & Honey and Teavolve in the building at 855 N. Wolfe St, says Teavolve Owner Mondel Powell.
 
Working with the owner of Milk & Honey Market, Ernst Valery, more than $750,000 has been invested in the new location, Powell says.
 
The yet named location will have a cafe that includes grab-and-go and prepared items, and a normal seating area in addition to a 900-square-foot mezzanine for evening events, Powell says.
 
Powell says the new location will give Teavolve an opportunity to do more events and catering and an opportunity to expand the brand. The location connected to Johns Hopkins provides the businesses with built-in clientele, Powell says.
 
Approximately 25 new employees will be hired for the new location, and Powell says that the management is working to hire individuals from the nearby community.
 
Teavolve plans to expand strategically and Powell says he gets contacted regularly about different developments inside and outside the city.
 
This location will be Milk & Honey Market’s third location. Their second location is slated to open in Station North this fall. The company’s other location is in Mount Vernon.
 
Just north of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Rangos Building is part of a more than 80-acre urban redevelopment project under the direction of the East Baltimore Development Inc. which will include housing, retail and office space, research labs, and more.
 
Source: Mondel Powell, owner of Teavolve
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]

Joe’s Crab Shack is on its way to building its fourth Maryland restaurant at Hunt Valley Towne Centre, according to the Baltimore County liquor board.
 
The board approved a liquor license transfer to the Houston-based restaurant chain, says Mike Mohler, chief administrator of the Baltimore County Board of Liquor License Commissioners. The building will go on a pad site opposite Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Mohler says.
 
“We’re very excited about having them in Baltimore County,” Mohler says. “We’re looking forward to it.”
 
The other Maryland crab shacks are in Greenbelt, Gaithersburg and Abingdon.
 
Officials at Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp. – Hunt Valley’s developer – and Joe’s Crab Shack said they did not yet have a formal announcement on the new site.
 
The crab restaurant typically employs around 250 to 300 at each location. In addition to crabs, the restaurant sells New Orleans-style and Caribbean-flavored seafood dishes, such as crawfish etouffee and coconut shrimp.
 
Anchored by a Wegmans Food Markets, Hunt Valley Towne Centre’s shops include White House/Black Market, the Greene Turtle and California Pizza Kitchen. 

Writer: Julekha Dash; [email protected]
Source: Mike Mohler, Baltimore County liquor board

Yorkridge Shopping Center in Timonium has signed up Towson How Bagels & Deli and Massage Envy as clients, making the center fully leased.
 
Kohl’s, Michaels and MOM’s Organic Market are the anchor tenants at the 180,000-square-foot shopping center. It will be Towson Hot Bagels & Deli’s third location in Greater Baltimore when it opens next month. Massage Envy, a national chain that offers several types of massages and facials., will open in the summer.
 
Mark Renbaum, CEO of developer Schwaber Holdings says there is currently has interest from a number of tenants, including national restaurants and clothing shops. The Pikesville real estate company has completed $1 million in renovations to the center in the last 18 months, Renbaum says. This includes the replacement of sidewalks and portions of the roof and landscaping.
 
The county has approved a parking variance that could enable the center to add 15,000 square feet of commercial space.  

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Mark Renbaum, Schwaber Holdings 

Baltimore County officials have approved preliminary plans for an office, shopping and residential complex in Owings Mills that aims to be a smaller version of Quarry Lake.
 
It’s one of several major developments in the works for Owings Mills. Others include David S. Brown Enterprises' Metro Centre, a $65 million makeover of the Owings Mills Mall and a Wegmans-anchored retail complex called Foundry Row.

Steven Koren, of Columbia’s Koren Development Co., is building Delight Quarry on approximately 120 acres in northwest Baltimore County, at the intersection of Franklin Boulevard and Nicodemus Road.
 
Delight Quarry's residential part calls for 75 single-family houses, 66 townhouses and 108-units of active adult condominiums. In addition, there will be 20,000-square feet of retail space and 136,500-square feet of office space.
 
Delight Quarry will follow the pattern of the Quarry Lake development, with buildings clustered around a quarry that is being allowed to fill in and become a lake.
 
Koren says he doesn’t yet know what the development will cost. He says he is not at the stage where he can give prices for the housing or potential tenants for the retail and office spaces. Those decisions will be made in conjunction with the residential and commercial builders, although neither has been chosen at this point. He also doesn't have a timeframe yet for construction. 

“We don’t do this [development] in a vacuum,” Koren says of housing prices and tenant leases. “It depends on market reception.”
 
Glenn Barnes, president of the Reisterstown Improvement Association and a manager of the Long and Foster Reisterstown real estate office, says questions were raised at a community meeting about the viability of the office and retail portions given the number of vacant commercial buildings on Reisterstown Road.
 
Koren says he is aware of the downturn in housing and other sectors. “Every decision is made in concert with the market and how we proceed in a productive manner. We have to work within the constraints of the market,” he says.
 
Baltimore County officials have approved the development plan and Koren is currently finalizing the engineering plans for construction. When he does, he will return to the county for approval of a final plan.


Sources: Steven Koren, Koren Development Co.; Glenn Barnes, president, Reisterstown Improvement Association, and manager, Long and Foster Reisterstown.
Writer: Barbara Pash

Pharmacy chain Walgreens is moving into Maryland in a big way. Within the next 12 months, the chain plans to open a dozen stores in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince Georges and Washington counties. First on the list of openings is a new Walgreens that opens in Pikesville, in Baltimore County, April 7.
 
Maryland currently has 60 Walgreens, but store officials say the state is considered one with the least penetration. The number of stores in Maryland is growing as the pace of Walgreens’ expansion across the country has slowed, according to Andrew Militello, Walgreens district manager, who declined to release financial information for the chain or for individual stores.
 
Sites for the upcoming stores are Baltimore City near Johns Hopkins University campus, Cockeysville, Federal Hill, Hyattsville, Laurel, Perry Hall, Odenton, Rockville and two in Hagerstown. Existing Walgreens are located throughout the state, in Baltimore City and County, Carroll County, Howard County and the Maryland suburbs around Washington, D.C.
 
The Pikesville Walgreens is located at 1510 Reisterstown Rd., at the intersection of Reisterstown and Old Court roads, in northwest Baltimore County. This is the second Walgreens in Pikesville, the first being in Quarry Lake, a community in the Smith-Greenspring area of northwest Baltimore County.
 
While the “soft” opening is April 7, the grand opening will be held April 19, with free giveaways and children’s events.
 
The Pikesville Walgreens brought 23 new jobs to the area, and more employees may be hired in the future, Militello says.
 
The store is 15,000 square feet in size, slightly larger than a typical Walgreens. Formerly the home of an office supply store, the building’s interior was renovated and the exterior façade redone in keeping with Walgreens’ brand. Because of its size, the Pikesville Walgreens will carry items that other stores don’t have the space for.
 
The Pikesville Walgreens was five years in the making as the company scouted for a location and did market surveys of potential customers. Militello says the survey showed the location to be ideal for a number of reasons. The store has a large parking lot and is near the Baltimore Beltway (I-695), and the area has a sizeable senior population. Two multi-unit Harry and Jeanette Weinberg buildings for senior citizens are close by the store.
 
“This is a tremendous site for us,” says Militello. “It’s a prime spot in Pikesville and easy access from surrounding neighborhoods.”
 
Source: Andrew Militello, Walgreens’ district manager
Writer: Barbara Pash

David and Dad's, a breakfast and lunch cafe and carryout, plans to add a new downtown location in May.
 
Located at 100 E. Pratt St., the new 2,100-square-foot location, Cafe Express, will feature a similar concept to David & Dad's.  The cafe hopes to provide fast-food speed and prices, with restaurant quality food and service, says owner David Cangialosi.
 
The space will undergo a renovation upwards of $200,000 to be paid for by the landlord, Cangialosi says.
 
The location was previously occupied by an Italian deli that closed and the landlord needed the space filled as quickly as possible, Cangialosi says.
 
Cangialosi says hopes to keep his customer base and thinks the restaurant will be successful in the new location. He plans to have between six and eight people running the cafe.
 
The cafe offers a revolving menu of sandwiches, salads, paninis and other lunch specials.

The company currently has a main location at 334 N. Charles, a smaller express cafe at 1 N. Charles, and a coffee shop inside the Southeast Anchor Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
 
Cangialosi always wanted his own business. He bought his first cafe more than 18 years ago after working for Mrs. Field's Cookies. When Cangialosi decided to expand, his father invested in the business, and Cangialosi named the cafe in part to thank to his father. 

Source: David Cangialosi, owner of David and Dad's
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]

 Roane’s Earth Wellness  -- a one-stop shop for herbs, vitamins, supplements and yoga studio -- is coming to downtown Baltimore.

The official opening is Saturday May 5 at 333 North Charles Street, in the Women’s Industrial Exchange Building.
 
Owner NeAnna Roane McLean is a fourth generation herbalist, having learned the field from her father. When he retired, McLean says she “inherited” his clients. “People kept calling me at all hours about their migraines and other health concerns,” she says.
 
McLean advertises the shop as providing “wellness experiences.” In keeping with that mission, she will offer consultations on holistic nutrition.
 
All products in the shop are organic. Vitamins and supplements are vegan-certified. Cosmetics have no parabens or sulfates and have not been tested on animals. Candles, spices and household cleaners are also offered.
 
McLean is a certified yoga instructor who is chair of the yoga program for the Owings Mills Recreation and Parks Council. She specializes in restorative yoga, and expects to hire additional yoga instructors depending on the type of yoga they teach and class demand. Besides yoga, the shop may have somatic therapy-pain management and reflexology.
 
McLean is hiring people to work in the shop area. She declined to provide financial information.
 
Source: NeAnna Roane McLean, owner of Roane’s Earth Wellness
Writer: Barbara Pash

Satisfying your caffeine craving in Baltimore's downtown is about to get a little easier.
 
While an exact date has not been announced, a company spokesperson says that Starbucks plans to open a location at 100 E. Pratt St. location sometime later this month. The address is also the corporate headquarters of T. Rowe Price Group Inc. and Italian restaurant Brio Tuscan Grille, which opened this month.

It will be the second standalone Starbucks in downtown. There's another Starbucks on the west side at 1 E. Eutaw St. On the other side of the city, there's a Starbucks in Harbor East next to Landmark Theatres and one in Canton's Can Company. 

Starbucks' Ellicott City location on Baltimore National Pike, has just been remodeled and given an expanded cafe menu, says a spokesperson. The renovations include new chairs, floors and coffee counter. 
 
The expansion is a marked shift for the Seattle coffee giant, which closed 600 stores around the country several years ago during the recession, including two downtown locations on Charles Street and at Harborplace. It also closed a store in Belvedere Square. 
 
In all, Starbucks currently has more than 50 stores in the Baltimore area including stores in Charles Village and Mount Washington.

Source: Starbucks spokesperson
Writer: Alexandra Wilding

Hiring for the Lotte Plaza in Catonsville will begin early this summer as the grocery will employ as many as 75 for the new location.

The positions will be "typical retail supermarket positions," from cashiers to managers to bookkeepers, says Lotte Plaza Director Alvin Lee.  The company plans to hire from within the organization first and then reach out to the community at large, Lee says
 
The Asian market plans to open a store at One Mile West Shopping Center in Catonsville this summer and will compete a multimillion-dollar renovation of the 46,000-square-foot space, says Bob G. Pollokoff, president of The Fedder Co.

The remodeling of the building will begin later this month and will include renovations to both the inside and outside of the building. Lotte Plaza will remodel the interior of the building, turning it from a space formerly used as a toy store into a full-service grocery store, Pollokoff says.
 
Lotte Plaza will take over the space formerly occupied by Toys-"R"-Us at the shopping center that also includes Panera Bread and Pier 1 Imports at 6600 Baltimore National Pike. The Fedder Co., a commercial real estate development, investment, and management company that manages more than 1.8 million square-feet of commercial property in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, owns the property.
 
Lotte Plaza operates 13 markets in seven states including locations in Ellicott City, Germantown, and Silver Spring and employs over 300 employees.
 
Sources: Alvin Lee, director at Lotte Plaza and Bob G. Pollokoff, president of The Fedder Company.
Writer: Alexandra Wilding

Baltimore's neighborhoods will have a staring role in next month's National Main Streets Conference, as Charm City becomes the first city to host the conference twice. The yearly conference was last held in Baltimore in 2005.
 
Conference organizers hope to send a message to attendees that small businesses and main streets across the country are thriving and local development is on the rise. The conference, titled "Rediscover Main Street,” will be held April 1-4 at the Baltimore Hilton.
 
Baltimore's small-scale development, from urban gardens to craft brewing, will be featured throughout the conference. Organizers plan to use the city as a "living laboratory" for what makes successful neighborhoods, says Mary de la Fe, program manager for conferences at the National Trust Main Street Center.
 
Baltimore has been successful in creating and sustaining innovative practices within neighborhood economic development and the hope of the conference is to highlight some of the success that Baltimore has had, de la Fe says.
 
"We really try to make sure we're showcasing the city, the preservation efforts and the uniqueness of the city," de la Fe says.
 
The conference, an initiative of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will be co-hosted by Baltimore Main Streets, part of the Baltimore Development Corporation.  Currently, 10 main streets exist within Baltimore including the Fells Point and Hamilton-Lauraville Main Streets.
 
The main street model was developed in the 1980s as an approach to economic revitalization and has since been implemented in over 1500 communities across the nation. The approach focuses a combination of historic preservation, supporting and recruiting businesses, organizing a volunteer base, and neighborhood promotion.
 
Around 1,300 professionals who work in local economic development are expected to attend the conference that will provide educational tours and workshops to help managers of main street programs maintain or create vibrant, sustainable downtowns.
 
Amy Cortese, journalist and author of "Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit from It," will provide the keynote address.
 
While the majority of the conference is open to registered participants only, a free overview of the main street approach will be held Sunday, April 1, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m at the Baltimore Hilton and is open to the public. 

Source: Mary de la Fe, program manager for conferences at the National Trust Main Street Center.
Writer: Alexandra Wilding

Soon another vacant storefront in Highlandtown will temporarily house an art gallery.
 
It's all part of the Pop-Up Gallery project, a partnership between The Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at UMBC, and the Highlandtown Arts and Entertainment District.
 
The second of three Pop-Up Gallery projects in the neighborhood will have an opening March 3 from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. at 3216 Eastern Ave. just east of the Creative Alliance. The gallery installation will run through March 17.
 
University of Maryland Baltimore County graduate student Lexie Macchi is curating the three Pop-Ups. That is according to Sandra Abbott, who is also a member of the Highlandtown Arts District and curator of collections and outreach at UMBC's Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture.
 
The concept of pop-up spaces is to take an unoccupied commercial space and temporarily convert it into a thriving business or art space. Organizers hope to stimulate interest in the property and the neighborhood, feature local artists, and create networking opportunities for local businesses. Pop-Up shops and galleries have gained traction recently across the country as a creative way to generate business in vacant spaces.
 
With the Highlandtown Pop Up, the goal is to partner with merchants and landlords to bring attention to spaces to stimulate rentals and sales, Abbott says.
 
Abbott says organizers of the project want to highlight the possibilities of Highlandtown and increase traffic to the area.
 
In the case of Baltimore's Pop-Up project, the first gallery opened in December and ran for six weeks on South Conkling Street.
 
Funding for the project is provided in part by UMBC. The Highlandtown Community Association helped obtain funding for the project as well, Abbott says.
 
Charm City Land Co. LLC donated the space for the project.
 
Organizers have been invited to speak about the project at the National Main Streets Conference in April in Baltimore.
 
"We want it to go viral and then everyone will be doing it," Abbott says.

Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Source: Sandra Abbott, member of the Highlandtown Arts District and curator of collections and outreach at UMBC's Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture.

The owner of an East Baltimore shopping center could spend as much as $5 million on renovations that will hopefully help it attract a restaurant, bank and other tenants.
 
The makeover is underway at the Erdman Shopping Center in the Belair-Edison neighborhood, says Peter Grose, vice president of Regional Management, Inc. 

The Erdman Shopping Center, built in the early 1960s to accommodate an expanding suburban population moving into the city's northern neighborhoods, sits north of Sinclair Lane between Edison Highway and Erdman Avenue. 

Current tenants at the 120,000-square-foot center include Rite Aid, Save-A-Lot and various clothing, cosmetic, and carryout food businesses. The shopping center serves daily and weekly needs of the neighboring community, Grose says. 

The company expects to invest between $1 million and $5 million on renovations, and plans to complete them between the next six to twelve months, Grose says.
 
The company plans to raze several buildings on-site, replacing them with a new 9,000-square-foot, multi-tenant space, as well as a stand-alone site that could house a restaurant or a bank.
 
"We have the financial ability to really lift this center, and provide a needed investment in a really solid neighborhood," Grose says.
  
The Erdland Co. took possession of the center in September 2011. Regional Management, a property management company in Baltimore, is overseeing the renovations and on-going management for The Erdland Co. 
 
No timelines have been set for the leasing of the new spaces, but Grose hopes to attract businesses that are consistent with current offerings in the center.
 
Grose says he hopes to attract a sit-down restaurant to the center, as local offerings are sparse.
 
Some of the completed renovations include painting, landscaping, removal of debris, old metal pipes and rusted fences, replacing curbs, and adding speed bumps, stop signs, and a new roof for the complex.
 
The majority of the renovations have yet to be completed and will include redoing the fronts and canopies of existing businesses, and a substantial redesign of the parking lot to include more green space and to soften the appearance of the center, Grose says.
 
The renovations are part of an effort to improve a run-down shopping center in a part of the city that has dealt with crime. Last summer, a man making a delivery to the center was shot and killed in the center's parking lot.
 
Grose hopes that the renovations provide the community with an additional level of support and optimism.
 
"Someone came in with private money and really believes the community will come back and do their shopping and get services in this center. It just needs some investment," Grose says.