Development News

Greater Baltimore Medical Center is undergoing a $1 million renovation that includes enhancements to its lobby, gift shop, waiting areas, and corridors.

The GBMC renovations come as other Greater Baltimore hospitals add new wings and get facelifts to get new patients. These include a new pediatric clinic at Sinai Hospital and new operating rooms at Baltimore Washington Medical Center.

"Patients like to see modern architecture and modern facilities," says Michael A. Forthman, vice president of facilities and support services at GBMC.

The Towson hospital has hired Towson architecture firm Rubeling Inc. to design the new look. Renovations and additions account for about two-thirds of the workload for the company. It has performed work on behalf of Randallstown Community Center, Hockessin Athletic Club and Wellness Center, and Glenelg Country School.

Prosys Inc., of White Marsh, is the project manager for the renovations. The lobby and gift shop makeover will be completed in three months.

The lobby renovation involves flipping the location of the information desk with that of the radiology waiting space. After the renovation, the information desk will be directly across from the main entrance and will feature welcome signage, a decorative metal canopy, and accent lighting.  

Privacy screens will surround the radiology waiting area and heightened ceilings will hopefully open up the space.

The hospital chose ceramic tile for the floors, which can last 20 years, Forthman says.

"It's definitely a concern of ours to use good products with a long life cycle."

Another set of renovations will begin at the hospital in July. This time, the 285-bed hospital will redo the cafeteria and a unit of its nuclear medicine department. Forthman says he is not sure yet how much these renovations will cost, but it will probably be less than the first phase.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Michael A. Forthman, GBMC

The Downtown Sailing Center Inc. is looking to raise $500,000 to develop a marina so the nonprofit can teach the sport to people with disabilities.

Baltimore City's Board of Estimates approved a 25-year lease for the sailing center to occupy space at 1407 Key Highway, just next to the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

Though the nonprofit had been at that location for a while, it never had a long-term lease there, Downtown Sailing Center Executive Director Kristen Berry says. Without a permanent fixture, it couldn't develop the way it wanted to or convince people to give it money to build a marina when it could get kicked out at any time.

"At the harbor it's hard to come by new space so it's an exciting development for us," Berry says.

It plans to reach out to area foundations, individuals and corporations in its fundraising efforts.

By July, it should have renderings available for city approval and construction should begin next year, Berry says. The total project will take
between 24 and 36 months.

The nonprofit served 2,500 sailors last year.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Kristen Berry, Downtown Sailing Center

The Maryland Institute College of Art wants residents to ask the question: Is Baltimore a place where they feel like they belong, or do bad public transportation and privatization of public space impede opportunities?

The Bolton Hill college has assembled a group of scholars, artists, and activists to host a series of art installations and lectures April1-May 15. The series, called "Baltimore: Open City," was planned to coincide with National Fair Housing Month. The events include a film series, author readings and an off-the-beaten-path tour of Baltimore.

Tourists, students and some Baltimore residents live in their respective "bubbles," says MICA Art History Professor Daniel D'Oca. He, along with MICA students enrolled in an exhibition development class at the college, organized the events.

Restrictive covenants have made it possible for developers to build walls around certain neighborhoods, D'Oca says. MICA officials hope event attendees walk away with ideas on how to create a more open city.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Daniel D'Oca, MICA

Furniture store owner Nicholas Johnson and his wife love going to the beach in Delaware.

And they love going to Charleston, S.C.

So Johnson is looking East and South to expand his furniture store SuCasa.

Johnson will open an 800-square-foot pop-up store on Route 1 in Dewey Beach, Delaware this summer, spending $50,000 on the venture. If the store does well he will open a permanent location selling SuCasa's trademark classic contemporary furniture.

"I've dreamed of opening at the beach," Johnson says. He hopes that SuCasa's style will appeal to folks who aren't just seeking a beach-style look for their home. He can't divulge the exact location yet because the lease hasn't been signed.

The shop comes on the heels of his opening a 4,000-square-foot store at the Shops in Kenilworth. Johnson spent about $100,000 to open the Towson store in October. It replaced eco-friendly furniture store Bluehouse.

SuCasa's 4,800-square-foot flagship shop is located on Thames Street in Fells Point. Johnson owns another SuCasa in Ellicott City and two other furniture stores in Fells Point, Pad and Calligaris.

He is currently revamping the inventory at Pad and Calligaris so it has a broader appeal. The stores opened during the height of the condo market boom and sell modern furniture that is priced higher than the wares at SuCasa. But since the condo market collapsed, Johnson has had to rethink the concept behind these stores and will offer more neutral colors.

So what about Charleston? If he can make the Dewey Beach store work, he plans to open a store down the road in Darius Rucker's hometown now that Southwest Airlines offers direct flights.

"I dream of splitting my time between Baltimore and Charleston," he says.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Nicholas Johnson, SuCasa

A clothing store owner in Baltimore County is expanding her boutique as retail sales and the overall economy improve.

Lori Kilberg will move her store Lori.k to a larger space in Stevenson Village in Greenspring Valley March 3.

The 2,200-square-foot shop is about 50 percent bigger than the current store.

Kilberg says she spent $50,000 on the expansion as sales have grown. She expects sales to grow 20 percent this year. Nationally, retail sales rose .6 percent to $381 billion in December as consumers' confidence in the economy perks up a bit.

Lori.k caters to the 40-to-65-year-old who "doesn't want to look like her daughter," Kilberg says. The shop wants to offer a place where you can buy everything from a $20 T-shirt to a $1500 ball gown.

"Everybody can walk out with something and buy something which I think is incredible," Kilberg says.

Kilberg likes the location because the shopping center is convenient to reach for folks living on either side of the beltway.

Writer:Julekha Dash
Source: Lori Kilberg, Lori.k

Downtown Towson is getting eco-friendly townhomes as the area undergoes revitalization.

Bozzuto Homes has broken ground on 121 townhomes between Towsontown Boulevard and East Burke Avenue. Homes at Towson Green will start in the low $300s and feature up to four bedrooms. A sales center will open next month.

The townhomes will be built to achieve a Silver level certification from the National Association of Home Builders. Green features will include sustainable design, construction, and finishes, along with Energy Star appliances. The homes will be certified by Energy Star, a government sponsored program that helps residents and businesses become more energy efficient.

The community will include a rain garden with aquatic plants that will treat storm water runoff.

Bozzuto is working with the Chesapeake Fund, a nonprofit organization that works to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous flowing into local streams and waterways by evaluating the development's output. The real estate firm is also offering eco-friendly landscape maintenance advice to homeowners.

Towson Green lies within Baltimore County's Towson commercial revitalization district, and as a result, qualifies for a property tax credit. Under this program, homeowners will benefit from a reduction in their real estate tax bills for a period of five to ten years.

Towson Green is one of several new residential developments to open in the Baltimore County town. The Palisades of Towson, an 18-story LEED certified apartment tower, opened in the fall. Owned by Southern Management Corp., the Palisades includes a green roof, bamboo floors, and bicycle racks.

In recent years, downtown Towson has experienced an influx of new and redevelopment projects including:

- The $27 million Towson Center City project, site of the former Investment Building which is under interior demolition, and when completed in early 2012 will bring up to 500 new workers to the area;
- Redevelopment of two large vacated retail properties into the newly opened full-service Safeway at York and Fairmont Roads; and,
- The 110,000 square foot expansion of Towson Town Center, which includes a specialty retail wing with Tiffany's and Burberry.

Writer:Julekha Dash
Source: Bozzuto Group

Purse hounds, seafood aficionados, and Italian food lovers will soon have another reason to swing by Arundel Mills mall in Hanover.

A Coach factory store, Red Lobster, and Olive Garden are among the dozen or so stores to open at the Anne Arundel County mall in the coming months.

Coach will open in March or April, says Wendy Ellis, Arundel Mills' director of marketing and business development. Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and LongHorn Steakhouse will open later in the spring.

"It's a request we get all the time: Please add more restaurants," Ellis says.

Construction on the restaurants has already begun. Later in the year, construction will begin on a pad site that will hold BB&T and Tower Federal Credit Union.

Other shops to open at the mall include:

- Aerosoles
- Best Buy Mobile
- Hakky Shoe Repair & Alteration
- Surf and skate clothing store Tilly's
- Buffalo Wild Wings

The Coach store will open near Neiman Marcus Last Call. The mall has a large mix of outlet and discount stores, including Kenneth Cole Outlet Store, Nike Factory Store, and T.J. Maxx. These stores account for about 70 percent of the mall's retail offerings, Ellis says.

"Folks really like brand names and love getting value for them."

With 14 million visitors a year, Arundel Mills is one of Maryland's biggest tourist attractions.

Mall owner Simon Property Group operates similar mall properties in Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, and Fort Lauderdale.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Wendy Ellis, Arundel Mills

A store that sells floor and window treatments has doubled its space in Howard County to a more visible location that will hopefully boost business.

The Vertical Connection moved last month to a 13,000-square-foot store in Columbia. The new shop at 8895 McGaw Rd. gets foot traffic from customers who are also shopping at one of several neighboring home goods stores, Vertical Connection Owner Steven Joss says. Those stores include Indoor Furniture, Sofas Etc. and Botanica Home.

Joss says he hopes that Vertical Connection will get more traffic next year when Wegmans Food Markets opens at the intersection of McGaw Road and Snowden River Parkway in Columbia.The business had spent 30 years at an industrial office park at 9510 Rumsey Rd.

"It was time for a really good location," Joss says. The sour commercial real estate market made it possible to get rents for about half of what they were during good economic times.

"If you want to grow this is a good time to do it if you are not in debt," Joss says.

Sales at the store grew 30 percent last year, says Joss, who runs the store along with his wife Kathy and son Adam.

The shop employs eight, though Joss says he may hire several additional workers this year.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Steven Joss, Vertical Connection

Power Plant Live has sushi, pizza and a host of nightclubs to lure in visitors.

Now add mechanical bull riding to its reputation.

PBR Baltimore Cowboy Bar will open next to Angels Rock Bar in March, says Danielle Babcock, director of marketing for Power Plant Live landlord the Cordish Co.

Entertainment Concepts Investors LLC, a Baltimore company that runs bars and restaurants in Cordish properties, is licensing the concept from Professional Bull Riders Inc. The Pueblo, Colo., bull riding organization organizes bull riding competitions and tours, some of which are televised.

The 8,000-square-foot bar will play country music and hold a mechanical bull in the center. It will be a standing room only bar that can hold up to 700. It will be the third PBR bar, after Kansas City and Las Vegas. Another will open soon in Houston.

Professional Bull Riders has drawn 45 million fans in its 16 years, says company president Sean Gleason. He bills it as one of the fastest growing sports brands.

Gleason says Baltimore seemed like a good fit for the upscale country-themed bar because the organization has a large fan base in the area.
Having a bar that features mechanical bull riding in a fun atmosphere will hopefully promote the Professional Bull Riding brand, Gleason says.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Sean Gleason, Professional Bull Riders; Danielle Babcock, the Cordish Co.

A national restaurant franchise is staking out the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas to open as many as 20 stores where it can sell its chicken wings, fries, and bourbon baked beans.

Rahim Kurji and Bidjaan Kassam have acquired the franchise rights to open Wingstop stores in the area. They expect to open between six and eight stores in Baltimore this year. With each store costing between $400,000 and $550,000 to build, the franchisees could spend as much as $4.4 million to open new stores this year. The business owners are financing the operation through an SBA loan and their own cash.

The pair are looking for strip mall spaces that are between 1,400 and 1,800 square feet, Kurji says. Population-dense locales near universities and hospitals would be ideal, he says. Hungry students and busy hospital workers could keep the stores busy at night and not just during the day.

Since they haven't finalized any lease deals, the entrepreneurs couldn't identify any specific locations where they will open. Kassam says they will create a Facebook page asking locals where they would like to see a Wingstop.

The wings are made fresh to order and come in nine flavors, including teriyaki, garlic parmesan, lemon pepper, Cajun, and atomic. Kassam says that these sauces and even the blue cheese dressing you dip your celery in will be made in house.

Based in Richardson, Texas, the national franchise has its biggest penetration in California and Texas.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Rahim Kurji and Bidjaan Kassam

The Baltimore Museum of Art is now one step closer to beginning its $24 million capital renovation, the largest in its history.

The museum has narrowed its list of potential architectural firms for the project to five, spokesman Anne Mannix says. The museum received 11 requests for qualifications. It will now issue a request for proposal for the five firms, who will submit bids by early March.

After interviewing the firms and getting cost proposals, the BMA will select a firm by early May.

The firms on the shortlist are Ayers Saint Gross, Design Collective, Inc., GWWO, Inc./Architects, RTKL Associates Inc. and Ziger/Snead Architects LLP. All are based in Baltimore. Last month, the BMA appointed an architect selection committee comprised of Trustees and voted unanimously to award the project to an architect headquartered in Maryland.

The three-year capital renovation will enhance the galleries holding contemporary, American, and African art. It will also involve major infrastructure improvements, including two new roofs. Visitors will see the changes with an upgraded entrance, a new BMA shop, welcome desk, and coat check room.

The project will be funded in part by a $10 million multiyear commitment from the state and $2.5 million in bonds from Baltimore City.

Writer:Julekha Dash
Source: Anne Mannix, BMA

Construction on a gourmet grocery shop and a wine bar will soon begin at Patrick Turner's Silo Point condominium tower.

Hospitality consultant Peter Yaffe is cooking up plans for a store where Silo Point residents can pick up a sandwich, coffee, prepared foods and a bottle of wine.

Construction on the 2,200-square-foot business, called FoodLifePoint, should begin in the next month or so. Yaffe describes the style of the design-heavy store as "cozy industrial chic," much like the condo tower itself. He has hired Silo Point's architect, Chris Pfaeffle of Baltimore's Parameter Inc., to design the store.  

FoodLifePoint's features will include wireless Internet access, HD TVs, and seating overlooking the harbor. The store will employ between 60 and 75. If all goes well, Yaffe plans to open more stores like it throughout the U.S., one of which could be built at Patrick Turner's Westport development in South Baltimore.

Yaffe's previous experience includes LFB Enterprises, where he was president of a Maryland hospitality group that included catering, a restaurant, a nightclub, and a gourmet-to-go food operation. He has also run high-volume seafood restaurants in Florida and was director of operations of Capital Restaurant Concepts, the Washington, D.C. restaurant group that includes Paolo's Ristorante and J. Paul's Dining Saloon.

Meanwhile, the folks behind the 13.5% wine bar in Hampden are opening a wine bar at Silo Point. No word yet on the name of the 2,600-square-foot store, expected to open in April at 1200 Steuart St.

Wayne Laing, of 13.5%, declined to comment on his latest wine bar.

"They're both great concepts for the neighborhood," Turner says of FoodLifePoint and the wine bar. "I'm not real big on chain restaurants. Restaurants of this caliber are very site specific and we want that uniqueness for Silo Point."

The condo tower also features Mexican restaurant Miguel's Cocina y Cantina and Priv� Salon and Spa.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Peter Yaffe, FoodLife Point; Patrick Turner, Turner Development Group LLC

Baltimore Washington Medical Center is adding three new operating rooms that will enable its doctors to perform more complex neurosurgeries and orthopedic surgeries. Those services will be needed as baby boomers age and the county gets an influx of new residents.

The $31 million expansion will be completed in September, BWMC spokesman Kevin Cservek says.

The money for the new OR rooms comes from a bond sale from the University of Maryland Medical System, which BWMC is a part of, and the 321-bed hospital's fundraising efforts.

The 27,500-square-foot addition will give it a total of 17 operating rooms. As part of the construction, the hospital will add three empty rooms that will give it the space to add surgery equipment to those spaces if there is demand in the future, Cservek says. Hospital officials believe they will see this demand.

One of two hospitals in Anne Arundel County, BWMC is close to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The county is expected to handle more patients as more residents move to the area because of the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure. And as the baby boomers age, they will need more hip replacements and so forth, Cservek says.

The expansion will help BWMC transition from being a community hospital to a regional medical center, he says. The hospital plans to renovate 16,000 square feet of existing operating room space as part of the expansion.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Kevin Cservek, BWMC

The owners of Pazo, Cinghiale, Petit Louis Bistro, and Charleston restaurants could spend upwards of $1 million on their latest venture in Roland Park.

Tony Foreman and Cindy Wolf are negotiating to lease a space at 4800 Roland Ave. in the same shopping center as Petit Louis. Foreman says he expects they will finalize the deal in the next couple of months. The 100-seat restaurant would open in fall or winter.

Foreman wouldn't reveal the restaurant's name or dishes it would serve until they are closer to opening. The menu will be lower priced than that of Petit Louis, where entrees cost between $12 and $44. The idea, Foreman says, is to attract repeat customers in the neighborhood, as opposed to Petit Louis, which is more of a destination restaurant.

The investment in the new venue would be "nowhere near on the scale of Pazo and Cinghiale," which were much more expensive to build, Foreman says.

The restaurant will be located in two adjacent spots previously occupied by Roland Park Bakery and Deli and Long and Foster. A press release from Foreman Wolf says that a "casual, lively interior will take over the former deli space, with exposed beams and vaulted ceilings."

The sour real estate market has prompted some shop and restaurant owners to take the opportunity to snatch good deals. But Foreman says that's not the main reason he's opening the new spot.

"The reality is that I get itchy every couple of years. You have an idea and you want to express it."

The restaurant will employ 15.  

Foreman Wolf also owns wine stores Bin 604 in Baltimore and Bin 201 in Annapolis.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Tony Foreman

A steak and seafood restaurant will eat into a Pasadena retail center by the end of March.

Two Rivers Steakhouse and Seafood will open an 8,000-square-foot restaurant that employs more than 100.

Located at Lakeshore Plaza near the intersection of MD Route 100 and Magothy Beach Rd., the restaurant will open in a former Blockbuster Video space. Ace Hardware, Hallmark, and Safeway are among the other stores at the shopping center.

The owners of the restaurant also operate Hanover nightclub Cancun Cantina. The executive chef is Mark Morgan, formerly of Pasadena's Windows on the Bay.

The casual restaurant will serve soups, seafood, burgers, chicken, steak, and salads. Lunch dishes will start at $7 while dinner entrees will start at $15.

Lakeshore Plaza recently received a $3 million "Main Street-style" renovation that includes new color schemes, new modern canopies, and lighting. It draws from communities on the eastern section of Anne Arundel County, including Pasadena and Arnold. More than 112,000 residents live within a five-mile radius of the center and the average household income exceeds $96,000.

Baltimore developer St. John Properties Inc. owns the shopping center.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: St. John Properties