Commercial Real Estate : Development News

Federal Hill residents whose New Year’s resolution is to stay fit will get some help from a new business in the neighborhood.
 
Baltimore Nutrition Club will open at 1005 South Charles St. Jan. 14, the store’s Co-owner Carin Beldin says. Beldin and Co-owner Matthew Christ are both personal trainers who work at Baltimore area health clubs.
 
Nutrition Club customers will pay a daily fee — $6 to $9 — to receive a healthful breakfast that includes a shot of aloe, a 200-calorie meal replacement shake packed with 15 grams of protein, and metabolic tea. The store will also sell Herbalife products for an additional charge.
 
The daily fee also covers specials like a free wellness evaluation, wellness coaching and fitness classes. The club will hold three to five classes per week. Fitness activities may include hula-hoop lessons, Pilates, pre-and post-natal training, boot-camp boxing and Mommy and Me group walks. Beldin says she also anticipates starting a Federal Hill running club, like those in Fells Point and Canton.
 
Beldin says she wanted to open the Nutrition Club in Federal Hill since she’s been working with neighborhood residents for seven years.
 
“There’s a need for healthy options and nutritional habits in Baltimore,” Beldin says. “I know from working in gyms that people get nervous. Here, there will be no judgments. It’ll be low key with weight-loss challenges and celebrations.”
 
Beldin might host book club meetings and offer Wi-Fi in the 600-square-foot space. She and Christ don’t plan to hire additional employees, but they each know 10-15 independent distributors they will potentially do business with.
 
Beldin hopes to expand to others areas like Canton. With the success of nutrition clubs like First Nutrition in Bel-Air and Aberdeen, she envisions them proliferating like Starbucks, popping up on every block.
 
 
Writer: Jolene Carr
Source: Carin Beldin, Baltimore Nutrition Club

Hampden’s Breathe Books will add a café in February that offers beans, grains and greens.
 
Owner Susan Weis-Bohlen is spending $150,000 on the café, generated from area foundations and investors.
 
Vegan, vegetarian and Ayurvedic foods will be on the menu, in addition to café staples like scones and muffins. The new-age bookstore will also offer vegan cookies and cupcakes and raw macaroons, along with light meals like the Chick Pea Pick Me Up and Your Tart’s Desire and a daily blue-plate special. All treats will be made without white sugar and white flour. Weis-Bohlen is looking for local coffee products to sell at the venue at 810 West 36^th St.
 
Joann Goshen, the former pastry chef of beloved Mount Vernon institution Louie's Bookstore Café will be working in the kitchen. Joining her will be Rene and Don Gorman, formerly of Pikesville’s Puffins Restaurant. Weis-Bohlen will also prepare dishes that conform to the Ayurvedic tradition. Ayurveda is a form of alternative medicine that relies on food for its healing properties.
 
In addition to the chefs, Weis-Bohlen will hire three additional employees as the hours extend from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Breathe currently employs four.
 
The coffee bar will be in the front of the store, with a lounge area in the back, outdoor seating on the porch and as many as six tables upstairs. The store will carry magazines and international newspapers once the café opens.
 
Weis-Bohlen says she considered finding a new space for the café but decided to include it in her 750-square-foot store, a renovated house that already has a kitchen. She says she wanted to stay in Hampden because of the support from the community and the Hampden Village Merchants Association.  
 
Breathe’s café will bring in another source of revenue as more people turn to digital books. “Books themselves aren’t what they used to be,” Weis-Bohlen says. “Customers need a healthy, happy living. Food makes a bookstore more comfortable and casual.”
 
Writer: Jolene Carr
Source: Susan Weis-Bohlen, Breathe Books

A three-year-old interior design firm whose clients include Millennial Media and Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. is scouting for office space in Baltimore City and adding to its staff.

Kelly Ennis, founding principal of the Verve Partnership, says she is looking at Clipper Mill and other historic properties in the area with the hope of leasing a 2,000-square-foot office in January. “We’re looking for an office that reflects our brand — less formal but creative and professional,” says Ennis, who has been working out of her Hampden home. Ennis has hired Doug Kaufman of AGM Commercial Real Estate Advisors LLC as her broker. 

The six-person firm will soon add another designer and a project architect and grow to about 20 employees over the next three years. Ennis says she eventually would like to expand to other smaller cities, such as Denver and Pittsburgh.  

A Pennsylvania native, Ennis moved to Baltimore in the 1980s to get her BFA in interior architecture at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She moved to Los Angeles for eight years, where she worked for HOK, the largest US-based architectural engineering firm. Locally, Ennis has worked for Gensler.

Ennis wanted to start her own firm because she wanted to design offices where the company’s brand is incorporated in its interior design. For instance, Verve blended a casual and corporate environment on behalf of Millennial Media, designing a “park like” area for flexible meeting space and a “jam room” for the staff musicians.

OmniTI, an IT services firm with offices in Fulton and New York City, wanted a space that fostered creativity. Verve incorporated graffiti and musical instruments in the office design. 

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Kelly Ennis, Verve Partnership 

A second-hand boutique in Federal Hill promises shoppers stylish, affordable purchases that are cleaned for new owners.
 
B'more Betty, which stands for “Bringing Exclusive Trends To You,” opened at 1316 Light St. earlier this month. A buyer and seller of designer and vintage clothing and accessories for women, Betty carries Gucci, Anne Klein, Ann Taylor, Christian Dior, Burberry and Nine West, with prices between $7 and $100.
 
Customers can bring their items for selling and trading on Sundays. Owner Camille Edwards exchanges clothing and accessories up front for cash, 25 percent store credit or other store items. Inspired by her own thrift store purchase nightmares complete with deodorant-stained dresses and food spots, Edwards takes all previously used items to Zip’s Dry Cleaners every Tuesday.
 
Edwards, a Federal Hill resident who has lived in the area for one year, says she believes Betty fits the neighborhood. “People are open to buying and selling vintage things here. It’s a safe area with foot traffic,” Edwards says. When looking for places to open her boutique, Hampden came to mind because of the vintage feel and friendly atmosphere, but she believed the price range and formal style of the designer brands would attract more customers in Federal Hill.
 
Edwards’ inspiration for opening a small shop and decorating the 900-square-foot boutique with vintage, artistic styles came from her love of Parisian shops. She currently has only one other employee who helps during evenings but would like to hire more and expand in the current building to include men’s clothing.

Writer: Jolene Carr
Source: Camille Edwards, B'more Betty 

For many years, Stone Mill Bakery co-owner Alfie Himmelrich has admired Stevenson Village, the small, upscale shopping center nestled among the farmland in Baltimore County’s Greenspring Valley.
 
Now he’s joining the Village this month, opening a second Stone Mill Bakery & Café in the space formerly occupied by the now-closed Coffee with T. The two-level, 1,000-square foot space in Stevenson is getting a general facelift and will likely house Stone Mill the first or second week of December. In the spring, Himmelrich will add a barbeque pit in the parking lot of the new location with his dad and son – both named Sam – serving as the pitmasters.
 
Himmelrich, who co-owns Stone Mill with his wife Dana, says he probably visits about 10 different spaces a year, but he’s never been tempted to expand beyond his single café and retail outlet at Green Spring Station in Lutherville until now.
 
“Not only have I frequented that location as a consumer, but I’ve always loved it,” he says. “It’s so sophisticated.”
 
“We’re doing some fun stuff. We’re going to do some brunches and we’re setting the upstairs up as a dining room.”
 
The café will employ four people, including one long-time Green Spring employee who will transition to the new location. Himmelrich says the new Stone Mill will be a quieter and more intimate experience than Green Spring, which is often jammed-packed with loyal customers.
 
In addition to the Café, the couple also run the Stone Mill wholesale bakery in the Clipper Mill Industrial Park, which provides bread to shops and restaurants throughout Baltimore and Annapolis. The company employs 65.
 
Stevenson Village has been around since the 1970’s. Max Realty bought the property about three years ago.
 
“I have been a customer of Stone Mill for many years and I was convinced that they would be a great fit for Stevenson Village,” wrote Max Realty co-owner Aaron Max in an email.
 
Reporter: Amy Landsman  [email protected]
Sources: Alfie Himmelrich, co-owner Stone Mill Bakery
Aaron Max, co-owner Max Realty

Downtown residents now have a place to buy ingredients to make chicken tikka masala or palak paneer.
 
Annapurna Grocery and Gifts opened last week at 323 North Charles St, selling Indian and Nepalese spices, ready-to-eat foods, sweets and Korean noodles. Owner Ryan Thap, who also owns the neighboring Lumbini Restaurant, says he believes his grocery store will be well-received by downtown customers who appreciate ethnic foods but look for ways to save a buck. “They like the ready-to-eat foods. If they go to a restaurant for it though, they pay more than $20,” Thap says.
 
Thap says that although the grocery store has already opened, he will hold a Grand Opening in one month during which he plans to incorporate customer feedback and extend store hours from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. The store is currently open daily from 11.a.m.-8 p.m. Thap has already received specific customer feedback he plans to incorporate, like carrying more Indian vegetables, frozen foods and breads along with ingredients to make chicken curry and paneer. Customers with purchases of at least $100 can have their groceries delivered.
 
Thap planned to open the grocery store since February and invested $60,000 in the 1,600 square-foot space. He currently has one employee but is considering hiring two more.

Writer: Jolene Carr
Source: Ryan Thap

Oh la la! The sweet smell of crepes will soon start wafting over the cobblestone streets of Fells Point and two other mid-Atlantic states as Sofi’s Crepes expands to new locations.

By mid-December, Sofi’s Crepes will open in a former office at 1627 Thames St. that is currently under renovation. Founder Ann Costlow is also plotting an expansion outside of Maryland. Costlow says she expects a Sofi's Crepes in Delaware and another in New Jersey to open within a year. 

The creperie's fifth location will be a franchise owned by one of the creperie’s employees, Michael Calhoun, says Costlow. The restaurant in Fells Point will hire about 15 and include a small seating area, Costlow says. 

“There’s a little alleyway in there and we are going to be actually in that alley. We’re going to have a pass-through window in that alley, so people are going to be able to smell it from the street, and they can either grab it and go, or they can come inside,” Costlow says.

Sofi’s has a standard menu of sweet and savory crepes. Plus, each location showcases a variety of local specials. The Fells Point specials are still being tweaked.

Costlow says she thinks the location will be popular with both locals and tourists.

“It’s a tourist location because you’ve got the water taxi, and you’ve got a lot of tourists down there, as well you’ve got a lot of walk-around traffic.”

The Fells Point shop is the third franchise in Costlow’s growing chain: the Owings Mills, and Annapolis locations are franchises. Costlow owns the shops on Charles Street and at Belvedere Square.

Over the past three years, Costlow says she’s had talks with probably 20 people about franchising. Most of those discussions didn’t pan out, either because it wasn’t a good fit, or because of financing, which Costlow says is the biggest holdup for potential franchise owners.

The initial startup for Sofi’s could be anywhere between $100,000 to $250,000 depending on the extent of the build out. 

The Owings Mills, Annapolis, and now the Fells Point stores are franchises. Costlow owns two: on Charles Street in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District and at Belvedere Square. 
 
Reporter: Amy Landsman
Source: Ann Costlow, founder, Sofi’s Crepes

Yoga enthusiasts and fans of yoga-inspired apparel have a new shopping destination in Ellicott City's historic downtown.
 
Gogo Guru will open Nov. 17 in the Reedy Electrical building at 8289 Main St. in Ellicott City, next to Tersiguel’s restaurant.
 
The shop will sell yoga equipment such as mats, yoga clothes, yoga-themed gifts, as well as yoga-inspired fashion apparel.
 
Owner Hilary Brich has put an emphasis on getting clothes from independent designers that are made either in the US or from a fair trade partner that adheres to fair labor practices.
 
"We vet the sources of our clothing to make sure it's not made in a factory in China. Our stuff costs a little more but you're supporting independent designers, there's more quality, design, style, and more interesting fabrics," Brich says.
 
An avid yoga practitioner who became a certified yoga instructor, Brich wanted to combine her extensive business background--working in varying capacities from IT to marketing-- with her love for yoga. Thus, the idea for Gogo Guru was born.
 
Brich spent the past two years scouring for a retail location for her shop, including Baltimore City neighborhoods like Mount Vernon and Fells Point, to locations in Columbia.
 
She ultimately selected a location in Ellicott's City's historic downtown because of her ability to work with the building owner to customize the space to her needs within her budget.
 
The 480-square-foot space is still undergoing the final touches of construction after a renovation that knocked down a wall and opened a big window that had been covered for years in the historic building. The process required approval from the county's historic preservation board.
 
Brich says she was drawn to the area by the eclectic mix of shoppers and visitors from 20-somethings to an older generation of motorcycle riders that come downtown to have a good time.
 
Additionally, the yoga scene in Ellicott City is incredibly vibrant with yoga studios and spaces at community centers within every square mile of the city, Brich says.
 
A quick search on Yelp indicates more than 15 yoga studios in the vicinity of Ellicott City.
 
 
Source: Hilary Brich, owner, Gogo Guru
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]
 
 
 

Patients and visitors heading into the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital on Rogers Avenue in North Baltimore now no longer face an outdated and nondescript main entrance.

A bright, renovated space now welcomes the nearly 6,500 patients, plus families, and caregivers who pass through the lobby each year.

“It’s bright. It’s colorful. You definitely know you’re in a place for children,” says Sheldon Stein, CEO of Mt. Washington.

The renovated lobby is one of three major upgrades completed Nov. 1. The $9 million renovation started two years ago.

The second update is a new canopy for ambulances, so premature babies being transported from local hospitals aren’t exposed to the hot sun or cold rain.

The third upgrade is a complete redesign and expansion of the hospital’s neonatal care unit, which added 10 more beds and allows it to take 100 to 150 more patient admissions each year. 

The design features a lot of high-tech touches: “Each bed has its own personal computer to document everything electronically,” says Stein. But there are also those tried and true low-tech features to help prevent germs. “You can’t go eight feet without walking into a sink to wash your hands,” Stein adds.

The renovations were part of a capital campaign that had its roots back in 2007, when Mt. Washington was jointly acquired by the University of Maryland Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Medicine. The board and leadership studied trends and realized there would be a growing need for babies who were ready to leave the pediatric ICU’s at local hospitals, but weren’t ready to go home.  Before construction began, staff and families were surveyed to see what they liked about the existing neonatal unit and what they wanted in the future.

The fundraising was financed through grants, corporate donations, and individual contributions. About $7 million paid for the capital improvements. The remaining $2 million is designated for the Mt. Washington Foundation, for programs and services.

The hospital has been adding nurses, social workers, case managers and physicians, and plans to continue hiring. The hospital has hired 20 additional clinical staff to accommodate the expansion. It employs 600 total.

“We have babies who are very tiny. They’re small but they come with a lot of technology. They have breathing apparatus, all sorts of pumps and IV’s,” says Stein. “We were very innovative in how we laid out this design that satisfied the families’ need to see a nurse close by, and the nurses’ needs to see another nurse.”

Writer: Amy Landsman
Source: Shelter Stein, CEO, Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

A boutique for fashionable youngsters has moved from Mount Vernon to Federal Hill, a neighborhood that the owner hopes will attract more shoppers.
 
Cottage Kidz Boutique opened for business Oct. 27 at 1129 Light St., the former location of Bobabooi's Treasure Chest. The move from 823 North Charles St. wasjust two days before Maryland started feeling the effects from Hurricane Sandy. Cottage Kidz assistant Phillip Hawthorne says shoppers were sparse during its first Saturday in Federal Hill when everyone was making Sandy preparations, but is now picking up.
 
Owner Kimberly Pitts believes her boutique is a better fit in Federal Hill. “There’s more kids here, and the traffic is much heavier,” Pitts says.
 
The boutique opened at its original location August 2009. The new location is about 1,000 square-feet, which is the same as the old one. Although there is no longer a play area, the Boutique now has a wall that young shoppers can doodle on with chalk.
 
Cottage Kidz sells apparel, footwear and accessories for kids toddlers through ‘tweens. The boutique also now carries baby clothing and brands like Bean Belt, Alpha Industries and True Religion. Merchandise runs from $10-$180.

Writer: Jolene Carr
Source: Kimberly Pitts, Cottage Kidz 

A Howard County barbecue joint is cooking up expansion plans.  Smokin' Hot Bar and Grille, which offers pulled pork, pit beef and chicken, plans to enlarge its space and add live music by January.
 
The Glenwood restaurant received approval from the county to expand the restaurant from 2,740 square-feet to 4,100 square-feet. In its expansion, the restaurant will expand to the location next door in the Inwood Village Center. Owner Brett Arnold says he could invest as much as $50,000 in the expansion.
 
In its current configuration, the restaurant's dining space becomes too crowded during the nights that the restaurant offers live music, Arnold says.
 
The space will be used to accommodate the bands that play as well as providing a retail space for the restaurant selling a variety of barbecue sauces and t-shirts, says owner Brett Arnold.
 
Smokin' Hot's sauces have names like Texas Red and Alabama White, and range from the mild Brown Sugar Baby to smoking hot Black Jack.
 
Menu items include Texas braised beef and chilies, pulled pork BBQ, beef stew, corned beef and cabbage, and vegetarian BBQ. While the restaurant is known for its barbecue, Smokin Hot also sells appetizers, seafood such as shrimp scampi, salads, a variety of side dishes and desserts.
 
The restaurant currently employs 30 people and plans to add additional staff after the expansion.
 
The restaurant opened nearly three years ago and Arnold says he's considering expanding the restaurant to other locations including Sykesville, Baltimore, and Washington.
 
"We're always looking, but it has to be the right thing," Arnold says.
 
Source: Brett Arnold, owner
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]
 
 

Ellicott City residents will have a new place to climb, swim and shoot some hoops this spring.
 
That’s when the Roger Carter Community Center at 3000 Milltowne Dr. is set to open. Construction on the nearly $14 million project started a year ago and is next to the Burgess Mill Station apartments. State and county bonds are funding the construction.
 
The recreation center is two-thirds complete with the steel structure, gym and parking lots finished, says Raul Delerme, chief of the Howard County Bureau of Capital Projects, Planning and Construction.
 
The 46,000-square-foot recreation center will replace the current one, which is less than one-fourth the size and was last renovated 20 years ago. The current recreation center is the only public facility in the county with a pool, Senior Development Officer of Howard County Housing Marcus Ervin says.
 
The two-story center will include outdoor basketball courts, preschool room, multi-purpose room, a five-lane swimming pool with beach entry, diving well and a retractable roof for the warmer seasons. It will also house a 24-foot climbing wall, an aerobics room and a 6,000-square-foot exercise room.
 
The Center will be Silver LEED-certified with a solar lighting that reduces utility costs by $63,000 per year.
 
Irvin says he expects the center to get 419 visitors per day with a total of 31 full-time employees and lifeguards.

Writer: Jolene Carr
Sources: Raul Delerme and Marcus Ervin, Howard County

A new salon hopes to pamper women in Lauraville with makeup, cosmetics, lingerie, manicures, and pedicures. The 1,000-square-foot Aboni Amour will open Dec. 2 at 4600 Harford Road. 
 
Owner and Baltimore-native Ebony Tyson launched her makeup line, Aboni Cosmetics, last year and plans to feature the products such as foundation, lipstick, lip gloss and blush at the new location. The cosmetic line was previously sold exclusively online.

"I started the line because it's really hard for women of color to find makeup and colors that compliment our skin," Tyson says.

Tyson had been looking for a site to expand her makeup line. After hearing about the location in Lauraville, she decided it would make a good fit for her business. Tyson says she wants to offer a place for women to be pampered and have fun and wants her customers to see and feel the makeup on their skin before purchasing it.
 
For Tyson, the path to creating a makeup line and starting her own salon is personal. While in college, Tyson worked as a consultant selling makeup through a company, but the makeup she was selling didn't exist for women of color. Tyson, who is African-American, set out to create her own makeup line that catered to women with a myriad of skin tones.
 
Tyson taught herself how to create makeup using online tutorials and says her makeup line is all natural, healthy for the skin and safe for use with very sensitive skin.
 
The company is currently hiring two or three makeup artists.
 
A grand opening event will take place at the location on Dec. 1 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
 
Source: Ebony Tyson
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]
 
 

Restaurants in Little Italy will get a new neighbor this winter.
 
Following a total renovation, a new restaurant, Ozra, plans to open at 806 Stiles St. in December. 

The restaurant will focus on Mediterranean and Persian cuisine, serving lamb, beef, and chicken kabobs and Greek desserts, in a contemporary and simple setting, says Reza Holland, a partner in the project. Dinner entrée prices will range from $12 to $22.

"We're surrounded by nice restaurants but we didn't want to compete with Italian food, we wanted to do something complementary," Holland says.

The 2,100-square-foot restaurant near Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop will feature outdoor, terrace seating and bar on the second floor. An additional bar is planned for the first floor. 

The owners hope to create a contemporary and clean look inside the restaurant with neutral colors and an emphasis on exceptional lighting. Additionally, one of the partners in the project is an artist who has done architecture and design work and will use that expertise in the design of Ozra, Holland says. 
 
Holland says a group of investors chose the location due to its proximity to the Inner Harbor and an assortment of additional fine dining establishments. Holland says the investors purchased the property in 2009 after it had changed hands many times due to its prime location.
 
Holland says the owners are in the process of selecting a New York chef to develop the menu and train the staff. 
 
From 1906 to 1981, the location was home to Impallaria/Gramigna Bakery, with 18 years of closure during the mid-60s and 70s, according to The Baltimore Sun.
 
According to state property and taxation records, the property was purchased in 2009 for $275,000.
 
Source: Reza Holland, partner, Ozra
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]
 

A new downtown yoga studio wants to help Baltimoreans relax the mind, body and spirit.
 
Quiet Winds yoga opened last week in a 1,000-square-foot studio and office space at 519 North Charles St. Classes are offered for all ages and skill-levels and range from 30-60-minute sessions for $10 and 100-120-minute sessions for $20. Longer sessions are designed to maximize decompression and relaxation periods, while classes in general extend past general yoga skills and incorporate Reiki, aromatherapy, Kundalini and hypnosis techniques.
 
Owner Brianna Bedigian says she believes her studio offers a different kind of yoga compared with others in the area.
 
“At Quiet Winds, there’s more of a focus on the mind than the body, on nurturing and nourishing,” Bedigian says.
 
Bedigian has practiced yoga for more than 15 years and was inspired by its healing powers that helped her after she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue and in recovering from a car accident. She completed her 200-hour training at an ashram in Colorado and studied with yoga teacher Donna Farhi and has taught classes locally at Charm City Yoga and Prana Studio in Annapolis. She continues to offer Tuesday yoga sessions in the galleries at the Baltimore Museum of Arts where she enjoys teaching with Botticelli behind her.
 
Bedigian will be adding classes by October 30 with four instructors at Quiet Winds, and plans to hire more as business grows.

Writer: Jolene Carr
Source: Brianna Bedigian, Quiet Winds