Development News

For fans of Beef Brothers, a heretofore seasonal cart specializing in Nathan's hot dogs and fresh deli sandwiches, its almost as though spring has sprung early despite the frigid temps outside. That's because their favorite lunchtime cart has found a permanent home in the Charles Plaza food court.

Brad and Marc Quint, brothers and co-owners of Beef Brothers, had been looking at several opportunities to take their business from a seasonal cart to a year-round sit-down eatery since starting their business during the dog days of last summer.

"Our customers kept asking what we were going to do in the winter and many buildings around were inquiring about us being in their lobby or building. So, we went from no options to many in a short time period. We explored a few options and the best one we decided was the food court because it was very close to our cart. We closed the hot dog cart in November and got to work on our spot in the eatery. The eatery had been renovated recently and is beautiful. We did the rest of the work ourselves. Well, Marc did. He is very handy," says Brad.

While Brad changed the radio stations, Marc completed the renovations. And now the pair, who had long dreamed of opening a Jewish-style deli sandwich shop but didn't have the capital to make it happen, have their very own sandwichery.

"We are very excited about it all and so far we have been very well received. We know people don't have a lot of time for lunch and in this economy not a lot of extra money. So we try to get people their food fast at a good price but most importantly at the highest quality. We serve the highest quality of everything we offer. If we won't eat it and love it than we won't make it and sell it."

Beef Brothers serves breakfast and lunch and is open from 7:30 am to 3 pm, Monday to Friday. The deli seats about 200 people. Regular customers can participate in a loyalty program and also enjoy the Beef Brothers website that features photos with pithy captions.

"We have a bbq brisket sanwich with bbq sauce horseradish sauce on a kaiser roll and we call it The Beef Brother. It comes with slaw and people love it. It's something different, tasty and flavorful," says Brad.

"We are a full deli in the eatery. With traditional deli sandwiches like brisket corned beef and pastrami. We have soup every day and made to order salads. And of course our Nathan's hot dogs," he adds.

For those who enjoy lunch al fresco, Brad says the cart will reopen in its previous spot in the spring.

Source: Brad Quint, Beef Brothers
Writer: Walaika Haskins

As part of its ongoing effort to reduce homelessness across the country, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency has awarded more than $44.2 million in funding to keep the doors of 208 local homeless assistance programs in Maryland open and operating in 2011. The grants announced last week form a critical foundation for the Obama Administration's Opening Doors strategy, the nation's first comprehensive plan to prevent and end homelessness.

"There is a tremendous need on our streets and in our shelters among those experiencing both long-term homelessness as well as families confronting a sudden economic crisis," says HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "These grants are the life blood for thousands of local housing and service programs that are doing the heavy lifting to meet President Obama's goal of ending homelessness."

Last September, HUD announced that it would renew funding through HUD's Continuum of Care programs to existing local programs as quickly as possible to prevent any interruption in federal assistance. HUD will award funds to new projects later in the year.

HUD's Continuum of Care grants provide permanent and transitional housing to homeless persons as well as services including job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care. Continuum of Care grants are awarded competitively to local programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients. These grants fund a wide variety of programs from street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for homeless persons and families.

Source: U.S. Housing and Urban Development
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Baltimore Smart Homes, a Baltimore-based residential and commercial contractor that specializes in energy audits for homes and businesses, has launched a totally redesigned website.

According to Baltimore Smart Homes, the new site does a better job of conveying the company's message as it seeks to make homes and businesses throughout Maryland more comfortable, healthy, and energy efficient. The website gives potential and existing clients an in-depth look into the divisions of Baltimore Smart Homes: Home and Commercial Building Services, Energy Audits, and Energy Services and Solar Services. While the gallery section of the website features case studies with infrared imaging and detailed job description. Coming soon is a gallery of finished work including custom home building and renovations.

Source: Baltimore Smart Homes
Writer: Walaika Haskins

A jewelry company has purchased an office building in Columbia and will open new storefronts at three Maryland malls next month as it expands its retail presence.

Lund Trading LLC has bought a 40,000-square-foot office building for $3.7 million at 6822 Oak Hall Lane. NAI KLNB brokered the deal.

Lund, which distributes the Trollbeads jewelry line in North America and the Caribbean, will move its office and distribution operations from 8300 Guilford Rd. by the end of June.

The company plans to open Trollbeads boutiques at the Westfield Montgomery Shopping Mall, the Westfield Annapolis Mall, and the Columbia Mall within the next 45 days, Lund Trading owner Morten Petersen says. The company has just begun launching its mall presence with new stores opened last month in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Trollbeads is known for a make-your-own style beaded bracelet. Petersen says he wants to make the jewelry line a household name by expanding its mall presence.

Petersen declined to disclose sales at the seven-year-old firm, but says that sales have grown 50 percent in the last year. The company employs 50 at its headquarters and 75 sales representatives.

Lund Trading will share its new Columbia office with Looks Salon and Spa. Morten Petersen's wife, Marilyn, manages the 12-year-old spa.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Morten Petersen

A Baltimore County restaurant is toasting the New Year with a new bar that its owners hope will help it draw new customers.

Chappie's Diner Bar & Grill should get its liquor license at the end of the month, co-owner Brian Chapman says.

Located at 3648 Washington Boulevard inside the 112-room Beltway Motel, the 3,000-square-foot restaurant is adding six flat-screen TVs in a bar that seats about 90, Chapman says. The business owner and his partner, Paul Chapman, are spending about $100,000 on the expansion.

Adding a sports bar to the diner will hopefully help it attract a larger crowd, including younger folks who attend the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville and NASCAR fans.

Chapman likes the area because it is located on a busy road and attracts drive-by traffic from folks heading to the nearby Home Dept and Walmart.

To draw in bar patrons, Chappie's will offer specials such as steak night or shrimp night. By the summer, the restaurant and bar will host a DJ and hold karaoke nights.  

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast costs between $3.99 and $7.99. Chappie's serves seafood, steaks, and burgers for lunch and dinner, costing anywhere from $3 for a bowl of soup to $22 for a crab cake dinner.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Brian Chapman, Chappie's

Shoppers looking for trendy clothes at bargain prices in downtown Baltimore can now rest assured. Construction on department store H&M has begun at Harborplace and the shop is expected to open in April, according to officials at mall owner General Growth Properties Inc.

The 20,000-square-foot store will be located next to Urban Outfitters in a two-story space in the Light Street pavilion of the downtown mall. The pavilion will undergo extensive renovations to accommodate the new store.

The Swedish clothing company has expanded aggressively in recent years and now has 2,000 stores worldwide. Its Greater Baltimore stores are located in Owings Mills Mall, White Marsh Mall, Westfield Annapolis Mall, the Mall in Columbia, Towson Town Center, and Arundel Mills. The Harborplace store is H&M's first location in Baltimore City.

The clothing store will hopefully draw city residents and workers to Harborplace, says General Growth Senior Marketing Manager Carmel Gambacorta. H&M gives Harborplace � a mall known for drawing mostly tourists � an opportunity to attract a broad range of shoppers, Gambacorta says.

In December, mall officials announced that Lenny's Delicatessen will open in the Pratt Street Pavilion of Harborplace in the spring. The shop will be the third in the Baltimore area for the 25-year-old eatery known for its conred beef.

Women's clothing and accessories shop Francesca's Collection will also open in the spring.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Carmel Gambacorta, General Growth

A retail center in Westminster has landed two new tenants in growing Carroll County.

Speech Pathways, a pediatric speech therapy clinic, and Cold Stone Creamery will join the Shoppes at Meadow Creek at 495 Meadow Creek Dr.

Cold Stone Creamery will open a 1,600-square-foot store by April and Speech Pathways will occupy 2,717 square feet of office space on the second floor of the project's main building.

Developed by Chesapeake Realty Partners, the Shoppes at Meadow Creek counts IHOP, M&T Bank, and the Young School among its current tenants. Walgreens will open in the next 60 days and local Italian eatery Illiano's Restaurant will open in the next month, says Jos� Santana of Segall Group Commercial Real Estate. Santana brokered the leases on behalf of the landlord.

The 15-acre retail center will hold 110,000 square feet of retail space, five pad sites, and 22,000 square feet of office space when it is completed. Phase 2 of the Shoppes at Meadow Creek will begin next year.

Santana says he is looking for two new restaurant tenants and has had discussions with several national restaurant chains, whom he declined to name. He says he believes the Westminster area is bereft of dining options. When IHOP opened its doors, people camped out overnight eagerly awaiting a bite at the pancake joint.

Located west of downtown Westminster, the Shoppes at Meadow Creek faces Maryland Route 140. It is adjacent to a 188-unit single-family housing development that is completed and a 190-unit residential development currently under construction.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Jose Santana, Segall Group Commercial Real Estate

The Baltimore Museum of Art is looking for an architect to redesign its African and American art galleries as part of a $24 million, three-year renovation.

The museum issued a request for qualifications for architectural firms who want to be considered for the project. The BMA will select the winning proposal in April.

The selected firm will work with two different architectural styles. The work will include renovating the lobby, built in 1982, and the American wing, designed by John Russell Pope in 1929, BMA spokeswoman Anne Mannix says.

"I think I will be an interesting challenge."

 The renovation will also involve:
• Installing better lighting;
• Upgrading the visitor entrance, BMA shop, welcome desk, and coat check room;
• Revamping the work spaces and improving access to storage areas; and,
• Replacing the building automation system and other infrastructure improvements.

The BMA's $24 million capital renovation will be completed in 2014, the museum's 100th anniversary. It is the largest renovation in the museum's history.

Museum leaders will choose between four to six firms by late January for its shortlist. Technical proposals will be due in late February and interviews with finalists will be conducted in March.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Anne Mannix, Baltimore Museum of Art

The Baltimore Museum of Art will close its contemporary wing Jan. 16 to prepare for its three-year, $24 million capital renovation.

Fans of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and other modern artists will have to wait until spring 2012 to see the masterpieces again.

When it reopens, the West Wing for Contemporary Art will include a greater variety of media, from prints and photography to video.

The contemporary wing's rotunda will host exhibitions from an artist commissioned by the museum, BMA spokeswoman Anne Mannix says. A black box media gallery will showcase film, video, and digital art. Contemporary prints, drawings, and photos will be displayed in a dedicated gallery.

Baltimore's Marshall Craft Associates will complete the renovations to the contemporary wing. New York's Renfro Design Group, which has worked for the Morgan Library & Museum in New York and Grand Central Station Terminal, is designing the new lighting system.

The BMA's capital renovation will be completed in 2014, the museum's 100th anniversary. The renovation will include upgrades to visitor amenities, infrastructure improvements, and better displays of the museum's 90,000 works of art.

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

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Anne Mannix, Baltimore Museum of Art

The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille is the latest tenant to join Hunt Valley Towne Centre, an open-air Main Street-style shopping plaza.

The 12,000-square-foot restaurant will be the 25th location for the sports bar. The restaurant will feature a flat-screen television in every booth and pub-style food.

Headquartered in Edgewater, the Greene Turtle has outlets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. Last year, new stores opened in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Owings Mills, and Chesapeake, Va. The menu includes wings, burgers, salads, sandwiches, and steaks.

RestaurantChains.net, an online sales leads directory, last year named the Greene Turtle the fastest growing bar and grill chain with fewer than 200 units.

Other tenants at the outdoor mall include Wegmans Food Market, Best Buy, California Pizza Kitchen, Dick's Clothing and Sporting Goods, Jesse Wong's Kitchen, and Outback Steakhouse.

Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp. of Owings Mills is the developer of the nearly 1 million square foot shopping mall.

In the fall, the center welcomed several new tenants: Country Curtains, Five Below, Boardwalk Fresh Burgers & Fries, and Chick-Fil-A.

Later this year, the shopping center will welcome MVP Entertainment, the Ray Lewis-backed bowling alley and restaurant. The 62,000-square-foot facility will feature a sports bar, billiard tables, golf simulators, a coffee bar, and 38 bowling lanes equipped with flat-screen televisions.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp.

Students in College Park will get to rest their heads in a new, eco-friendly apartment complex.

Built by Columbia's Star Global Ventures, LEED-certified the Enclave will open in the spring with 94 apartment units and 369 beds in a seven-story tower. The building's first floor consists of a lobby, 10,000 square feet of retail place, and visitor parking.

The building consists of a separate parking garage for students, and a study lounge with computers and study equipment, fitness center, bike storage, and courtyard.

Construction on the six-story second phase, with another 369 beds, will begin in 2012.

Designed by Hord Coplan Macht, the Enclave's eco-friendly features include:
• Location near public transportation and within walking and biking distance of shopping areas;
• Roof that reduces energy consumption and pollutant emission;
• Energy-star rated appliances, lighting and windows;
• Use of regionally sourced construction materials; and,
• Ongoing recycling programs.

Located at 8700 Baltimore Ave., the University of Maryland building is financed by a consortium of credit unions led by the State Employee's Credit Union.

The apartments include two bedroom, two bathrooms at 850 square feet to four bedrooms, four bathrooms at 1,200 square feet.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Nisha Majmudar, Star Global Ventures

A new lunch spot will feed downtown office workers at Baltimore's SunTrust building.

Serving made-to-order salads and sandwiches, Nalley Fresh will open by the end of January at 120 E. Baltimore St. It will replace the closed falafel and gyro joint Cypriana Caf�.

Greg Nalley, who owned Tide Point's Harvest Table from 2001 to 2007, is launching the 830-square-foot caf�.

The former executive chef of the Maryland Jockey Club, Nalley says he is looking forward to serving the business crowd again as he did at the Tide Point office complex.

"You see the same people over and over again," Nalley says. "There's a camaraderie with people you see two or three times a week."

Nalley Fresh will also serve tart frozen yogurt sold by the ounce. Tart frozen yogurt � as opposed to the sweet concoctions that were all the rage in the 1980s � has been growing in popularity with the expansions of chains like Pinkberry. Lunch at Nalley Fresh will cost around $10.

The entrepreneur is renovating the interior with new floor, paint, cabinets and televisions broadcasting news and sports. Nalley declined to say how much he is spending to open the caf�.

Nalley says he likes the location because it's in the heart of the business district and provides plenty of outdoor seating on a nice day. The restaurant will seat 30 inside and another 30 outside.

Matthew Haas, vice president of Columbia's Manekin LLC, brokered the deal on behalf of Nalley. Manekin's Vince Brocato and Kevin Haus represented the landlord, Franklin Street Properties.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Greg Nalley

A new burger joint has eaten into the Canton spot formerly occupied by the short-lived Tangiers, offering locals a taste of Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, and Lindsey Lohan. 

Hollywood Burger Bistro opened last month at 845 S. Montford Ave. selling organic burgers made with Certified Angus Beef. Manager Michael Stratigareas got the idea for the concept after frequenting gourmet burger joints in Los Angeles.

"I thought Baltimore is more than ready for something like this," Stratigareas says.

The menu's selection includes a turkey burger, black bean burger, and a fried green tomato burger. There's also a lot of name dropping. The $12 Lindsay Lohan burger is made with mushrooms and onions in a Bailey's Irish Cream reduction. The John Waters Burger comes with crab dip, bacon, and Fontina cheese while the O'Malley Burger is a broiled crab cake on top of a beef burger with cheddar cheese and tomato. Entrees include crab cake, pot roast, and blackened chicken alfredo.

Stratigareas says he isn't shaken by the fact that the spot has been unlucky. Moroccan restaurant Tangiers closed after just a few months. He points out that prior to that, the location held Red Fish for five years. Stratigareas was the original owner of that restaurant. The spot was also home to the popular Weber's of Boston Street.

The restaurant manager says he likes the location because it's in a visible spot, at the intersection of Montford and Boston Street. Canton is also home to both recent college graduates and empty nesters who are hopefully looking for a more healthful burger.

Stratigareas redid the 210-seat restaurant with new plasma screen TVs, zebra prints in the dining room, and Tiffany blue paint in the bar.
The manager pulled together an investor group to fund the venture and couldn't say how much they spent to open the restaurant.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Michael Stratigareas

An Asian restaurant, spa, and dry cleaners will open early 2011 at a $10 million retail center in Columbia.

East Moon Asian Bistro, a 4,154-square-foot Asian fusion and sushi restaurant, will open its third location at the Shoppes at Shipley's Grant.

The two East Moon restaurants in Bowie and Alexandria, Va. serve Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese food. Dishes at the Bowie restaurant include sushi, kung pao chicken, peanut sauce curry, and tempura.

Venus Spa, a 3,229-square-foot nail care salon and spa, will offer facials and massages. Royal Cleaners will operate a 1,449-square-foot store as well.

Located at the intersection of Route 100 and Snowden River Parkway, the Shoppes is located on the Columbia/Ellicott City border and draws residents and office workers from both towns, says Robert Bavar, vice president of developer Bavar Properties Group LLC.

The Shoppes at Shipley's Grant features multi-colored brick buildings with large arches, colorful awnings, and well-lit exterior eating spaces, designed to mimic historic Ellicott City.

Existing shops at the retail center include Starbucks, Cold Stone Creamery, Coal Fire Pizza, and the Wine Seller. The development contains 24,400 square feet, with about 6,000 square feet of space left. There's also a free-standing bank pad for lease.

The shopping center is located at the main entrance to Shipley's Grant, the 396-garage townhome community under development by Bozzuto Homes.

KLNB Retail LLC handles the leasing of The Shoppes at Shipley's Grant.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Robert Bavar, Bavar Properties