For Foodies : Development News

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 

Just in time for baseball season, Pratt Street Ale House is ready to unveil its three-story expansion.
 
A new addition to Pratt Street Ale House will open this week leading into the Baltimore Oriole's season opener April 6. The ale house is located downtown, across the street from the convention center.
 
After three months of renovations, Pratt Street Ale House will open two new full-service bars adjoining their existing location. The 5,800-square-foot addition also allows the company to reserve space for private parties and events without sacrificing floor space for walk-up customers, says Co-owner Justin Dvorkin.
 
The renovations were timed to coincide with the opening of the Orioles season and are a key part of the company's future growth, Dvorkin says.
 
The new space will serve as an extension of Pratt Street Ale House and will offer the same menu. A banquet menu will be offered for private parties who book the location in advance, Dvorkin says.
 
Additionally, the ale house has been actively hiring and training 15 new employees for its opening.
 
Oliver Breweries, which brews beer onsite for Pratt Street Ale House, opened at the restaurant location in 1993 with the aim to create authentic English ales.
 
Earlier this year, Oliver Breweries was involved with a local brewing cooperative that plans to open a large-scale brewery in Waverly. The company is no longer involved with the project however, and plans to continue expanding brewing with their own onsite equipment, Dvorkin says.
 
Pratt Street Ale House is located at 206 W. Pratt St. 
 
Source: Justin Dvorkin, co-owner of Pratt Street Ale House
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]
 

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]

Baltimore wine lovers rejoice: Little Italy will soon have another wine bar. 
 
V-NO, a wine bar in Fells Point, plans to open a new location within the next three to four months with a similar concept but twice in the space, says owner Mark Bachman.
 
Located in the old Fallsway Spring building at 415 S. Central Ave, V-NO's new location, V-NO II, will push the company’s concept of providing sustainable wines even further. Currently 70 percent of the wines at the Fells Point location are sustainable. Bachman plains to expand the sustainable wine offerings by featuring wines on tap.
 
Nationally, a growing amount of quality vineyards are offering wines in small, reusable stainless steel containers as opposed to bottles.
 
The packaging solution is a win-win for vineyards, businesses purchasing the wine, and the environment, Bachman says. Less packaging lowers costs for all involved and also dramatically reduces the carbon footprint. Plus, the first glass is as good as the hundredth, Bachman says.
 
In terms of the ecosystem, it's the best way to drink wine, Bachman says. He hopes his customers in Baltimore will also buy into the idea.
 
"It just makes sense. I've got a six year-old son, I want to leave the world in a decent place for him," Bachman says.
 
Additionally, the wine bar will offer light food and a larger selection of wine. V-NO II will occupy 25 percent of the Fallsway Spring Building. The 1,500-square-foot store will be located on the Eastern Avenue side of the building. Bachman plans to employ six people in the new business.

The building's developer, Larry Silverstein, is responsible for several other redeveloped retail and restaurant buildings in East Baltimore. His Union Box Company is the developer for the Holland Tack Factory, home of Heavy Seas Ale House and Red Star Bar & Grill, among other projects.
 
At one point, it was reported that the developer wanted to turn the space into condos with retail and office space. Silverstein bought the building for $750,000 in 2007, according to state property records.  

Source: Mark Bachman, owner of V-NO II
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]


 

A mail-order food company specializing in high-end, gourmet foods like smoked salmon and caviar, expanded operations to a warehouse space in Owings Mills.
 
Chesapeake Fine Food Group, LLC leased 6,300 square-feet of warehouse and office space for their business of shipping perishable food products, says Kate Glenn, vice president of marketing for Chesapeake Fine Food Group.
 
The company previously subleased spaced in Essex. With their relocation, the company hopes they have found a home for the long term and plans to take more space in the area eventually, Glenn says.
 
The space only required minor modifications before they moved in this month, Glenn says.
 
Chesapeake Fine Food Group is the parent company of three mail-order catalogs: Mackenzie Limited, Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes & More, and Impromptu Gourmet. The space serves as a shipping center for foods from all three catalogs.
 
Glenn says the company works with more than 100 vendors across the country and uses another center in Wisconsin to fill the majority of orders. The most common items processed at the Baltimore location are its gift baskets, chocolate, and caviar. The company is highly seasonal and does 70 percent of its business between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
 
The company added two employees over the past year and plans to add another two by the year's end.
 
 
Source: Kate Glenn, vice president of marketing for Chesapeake Find Food Group, LLC. 
Writer: Alexandra Wilding, [email protected]

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

A pair of local entrepreneurs hopes a planned cultural arts center will bring new economic vitality to the Howard Street corridor.
 
Renwick Bass and his business partner, Dr. Larry Gaston, plan to open a 13,500-square-foot cultural center and banquet hall in a former bank building at the intersection of Howard and W. Mulberry Streets near downtown Baltimore. And three more could open in other parts of the city. 
 
The pair plans to invest around $750,000 to turn the former Liberty Savings and Loan into a youth development and cultural arts center offering classes in the performing and fine arts. The pair also hope to partner with local theater groups, musicians, and dancers to host performances at the space. Shows will be accompanied by gourmet food catered by local businesses as well as the culinary arts program at Stratford University, the former Baltimore International College. Art classes for seniors are also in the works, Bass says. 

The pair plan to finance the center without outside funds, but are planning to fundraise and possibly partner with businesses to cover operating costs until the centers become profitable, Bass says. 

The Downtown Cultural Arts Center is one of four cultural centers planned for Baltimore. Other center locations will be based on interest and need in the local community and locations have not yet been established, but Bass hopes to open additional centers in  West, East, and Southeast Baltimore.  
 
Renovations on the property are currently underway with a planned completion date in the next two weeks, but the property still needs approval from the city's zoning appeals board before opening.
 
Some of the renovations to the building include general cosmetic and electrical work, adding a dance floor and a stage, and installing a music production studio. Hiring for the center is currently underway, as Bass plays to hire 15 instructors to teach creative and performing arts classes.
 
A Baltimore native, Bass has honed his skills mentoring youth over the past 25 years. In 2006, Bass, along with two partners, founded a mentoring program, Blueprints for Youth, Inc. that has operated within the Baltimore City Public Schools.
 
While not an artist himself, Bass encouraged his daughter to participate in the arts and saw an increased sense of focus. He became convinced that youth have a better chance of being successful if they participate in the arts.
 
Additionally, Bass observed a disparity in communities where families don't have the resources to send their children to expensive arts programs. One of the goals of the center is to make classes affordable for parents to send their children to get arts enrichment, Bass says.
 
Bass hopes that The Downtown Arts and Cultural Center is just the first part of major renovations and an influx of new businesses to Howard Street and in a section of the city that struggles with vacancy.
 
Bass and Gaston also own and operate The Shops at Charles and North a retail location at 23 E. North Ave.
 
Bass believes that their business made a positive contribution to businesses along North Avenue, helping to attract additional business and contribute to the area’s revitalization. He hopes that now he can be part of a transformation of North Howard Street.
 
“The history of the arts and dance is in downtown Baltimore, and soon the whole of Howard Street will be revitalized,” Bass says.
 
The zoning appeal for the property will be held April 3. Bass hopes to open the center immediately following the hearing, if approved. 

Source: Renwick Bass
Writer: Alexandra Wilding

A Baltimore businessman will open a Middle Eastern restaurant and smoke shop in Upper Fells Point, not far from the Brass Monkey Saloon, Asahi Sushi and the Latin Palace.

Akram Ayyad will invest between $20,000 and $50,000 to open a 1,200-square-foot restaurant and smoke shop at 1611 Eastern Ave. The plan awaits approval from the city's zoning board, expected next month. Ayyad has yet to determine a name for the venue. 
 
Ayyad hopes to create a upscale casual venue that will serve light fare falafel and hummus, soft drinks and desserts. The business will also offer tobacco products such as cigars and possibly hookah. No alcohol will be served.
 
No major renovations are expected even though the building was used formerly as a clothing store, Ayyad says.
 
Ayyad plans to run the business with his brother. Together the brothers also operate additional business ventures such as a deli, and a small towing company. Ayyad moved to Baltimore 12 years ago from Jerusalem to join his extended family that has been here since the 1950s.
 
Baltimore’s zoning board rejected Ayyad’s initial application because unlike tobacco shops, smoke shops are not listed as permitted or conditional uses in Baltimore.
 
Smoking in restaurants has been banned in Baltimore since 2008 and is currently regulated by the Baltimore City Health Department. However, some businesses can apply for exemptions from the indoor smoking ban such as retail tobacco establishments.
 
A retail tobacco establishment can qualify if at least 75 percent of its revenues come from non-cigarette tobacco products, and the entry of minors is prohibited.
 
If the appeal goes through, tobacco products will make up 75 percent of sales at the yet unnamed restaurant with the remainder on food, Ayyad says.
 
Pending approval for the zoning board and other city agencies, Ayyad hopes the establishment will open in late May.
 
 
Source: Akram Ayyad, business owner
Writer: Alexandra Wilding
 

Camden Yards is hoping for a home run off the field this season. 

The stadium is building on the winning combination of beer and baseball by creating a brewpub and on-site brewery inside Camden Yards. 

The new restaurant planned for Oriole Park at Camden Yards will be a family-friendly brewpub with a sports focus and will open around opening day this spring, says Delaware North Cos.' Food and Beverage Director Adrian Sedano. Delaware North Cos. provides food, beverage and retail merchandise services at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
 
While the name and menu of the restaurant is still being determined, the brewpub plans to brew its own beer on-site and offer a traditional brewpub menu including burgers and sandwiches. Sedano says he can't yet disclose the number of seats or square footage. 

Oriole Park at Camden Yards hopes to become a year-round destination by creating concession areas that overlook the baseball field. In late December, the Stadium Authority requested $1.8 million from the state's Board of Public Works to renovate picnic-areas and create a year-round "park-like destination."  
 
Delaware North Companies Cos., a hospitality and food service company headquartered in Buffalo, is receiving consulting on the restaurant from Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc. a corporation in Chicago that owns restaurants in Illinois, Nevada, Washington, D.C, Minneapolis and Arizona. It owns Bethesda French bistro Mon Ami Gabi. 
 
The restaurant has started the hiring process and expects to employ between 30 and 50 employees at its location at 333 W. Pratt St.
 
Sedano says he thinks the future brewpub will be a place where families can come to enjoy a great sports atmosphere, in-house brewing, and a view of Camden Yards.
 
The brewpub concept with on-site brewing is the first of its kind for Delaware North Cos., Sedano ays.

Source: Adrian Sedano, food and beverage director for Delaware North Companies
Writer: Alexandra Wilding

BangBang Mongolian Grill, a create-your-own stir-fry restaurant that touts its heart-healthy fare, will open Valentine's Day in   Canton's Can Co. building.

Midwestern snowstorms delayed the shipping of equipment for the 4,000-square-foot restaurant, pushing the expected opening from last fall until now, says Dr. Shawn Dhillon managing partner for the restaurant. Additionally, the restaurant didn't want to hasten their building process to compromise quality, says Dhillon.
 
Bangbang Mongolian Grill replaces the former Austin Grill, which closed over a year ago at The Can Company.
 
Additionally, the restaurant plans to employ 45 to 50 people on its staff from workers in the kitchen to managers. The majority of the hiring has been completed, says Dhillon.
 
Dhillon expects the second Mongolian Grill to open in early March at 15752 Annapolis Rd. in Bowie.
 
Along with his partners, Dhillon plans to open an additional four grills and is currently scouting locations in Annapolis, Washington, and Virginia.
 
The format of the restaurant allows patrons select from their choice of chicken, beef, pork, seafood, and vegetables with choices of spices and sauces making for a meal that Dhillon believes is healthy and balanced.

Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Source: Dr. Shawn Dillon, BangBang Mongolian Grill

The president of Baltimore-Washington Beer Works is moving ahead with his plans to start a Charles Village brewpub and hopes to start brewing his first barrels in May. Stephen Demczuk says he is also developing a new Edgar Allen Poe series of beers with names such as Pendulum Pilsner, Tell Tale Hearty Ale, and the Cask of Amontillado.

The planned Charm City Brewery will be located in a 50,000-square-foot former bottling company at 401 E. 30th St. in Baltimore's Charles Village neighborhood. The terms of the lease have been agreed upon and lawyers are handling the final details, Charm City Brewery CEO J. Hollis B. Albert III says.

But Demczuk says he has abandoned plans to open a brewpub in the former legendary Haussner's restaurant in Highlandtown because the project would have been too expensive and the building was in poor condition.

Demczuk was working with a local developer to turn the vacant building at Eastern Avenue and Clinton Street into a brewpub for the company known for its "Raven" lager.

For now, Demczuk is focusing on Charm City Brewery, which will be a cooperative of several brewers including Oliver Breweries and a brewer relocating from Chicago called LPB LLC.

While the participating brewers will contribute to the cost of the facility and ingredients, Charm City Brewery will brew beer for the individual brewers using their formulas. This will allow the brewers to focus on marking their products and developing new brands, Demczuk says.

Zoning limits the ability for the brewery to include a restaurant. Instead, the brewery will offer tours and tastings. Additionally, the brewery is considering offering workshops for the public on how to brew, says Albert.

Albert declined to state how much has been invested in the property.

Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Sources: Baltimore-Washington Beer Works president, Stephen Demczuk; J. Hollis B. Albert III,  chief executive officer of Charm City Brewery.

The owners of Milk & Honey Market will open their second cafe in the former Chesapeake restaurant, furthering their plans to breathe life into a cornerstone neighborhood building that has been empty for decades.

Ernst Valery says Milk & Honey Cafe will open by the fall at 1701 N. Charles St., which is in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District.

Valery says the new restaurant will not sell groceries like the Mount Vernon store and will only function as a coffee shop. The sleekly designed Milk & Honey Market in Mount Vernon sells cheeses, bread, eggs and imported food items. It opened late 2010.

Developing the former Chesapeake restaurant is key to Station North’s ambitions to become a thriving arts and entertainment destination. The neighborhood has gotten several new cafes, bars, theaters, artists’ studios and housing in recent years. But it still houses many vacant buildings and will lose anchor tenant Everyman Theatre when it moves to the west side in the fall.

Valery says the building will house two restaurants. Valery and his Milk and Honey team will open one restaurant while another unnamed Baltimore operator will spearhead the other. Philadelphia restaurant owners Mauro Daigle and Annie Baum-Stein are joining Valery and his wife Dana to open the restaurant.

Valery declined to say any more about either restaurant as details are still being finalized.

All total, the two restaurants and Milk and Honey Café will employ 50.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Ernst Valery, Milk and Honey

Woodberry Kitchen’s Spike and Amy Gjerde will open a coffee shop at Hampden’s Union Mill this spring.

The 1,500-square-foot café will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Allie Caran, the lead barista at Woodberry Kitchen will manage the store, Spike Gjerde says.

Also still in the works is Half Acre, a fast-casual eatery that the Gjerdes will open at 3801 Falls Rd. in the middle of this year. The 75-seat restaurant will serve lunch and dinner and employ 30, Gjerde says. The restaurant is also opening an office at Union Mill for about half a dozen employees at the cafe and restaurants.

The café will be under construction next month and open in March or April, says Michael Morris, the real estate manager for the Gjerdes’ restaurant ownership group behind Woodberry Kitchen, Artifact and Half Acre.

One of the area’s first farm-to-table restaurants, Woodberry Kitchen is one of the Baltimore area’s most popular restaurants. It earned the accolade of Bon Appetit magazine, which named it one of the Top 10 Best New Restaurants in America in its September 2009 issue.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Spike Gjerde, Woodberry Kitchen; Michael Morris, real estate manager