Baltimore's Pigtown neighborhood claim to fame may soon no longer be its annual festival that lets the porcine creatures run through the streets.
The area, also known as Washington Village, will be home to a Caribbean restaurant and a wine-and-cheese shop in the coming months. These businesses follow a flurry of others that are moving into the southwest Baltimore neighborhood.
In April, Michael Mekbib will open Spiritas, a wine and beer store that will hold monthly tastings at 786 Washington Blvd. And Steel Drum Caf� will offer Caribbean fare and an upstairs lounge featuring Wii games next month. The owners of both businesses are Washington, D.C., natives who saw potential in Pigtown.
With more young professionals moving into the area, Mekbib says he wanted to be part of the "new wave" of development that caters to them. He first heard about Pigtown from a cousin who owns a building in the neighborhood. "The place is changing," Mekbib says. "The middle class is moving in."
He will invest $40,000 to open the 1,400-square-foot property. He received a $15,000 grant from Pigtown Main Street to use on the building's facade.
Streel Drum CafeOwner Bernard Sanders says he will spend more than $200,000 to open his 3,000-square-foot restaurant at 771 Washington Blvd. He says he was encouraged by all the businesses moving into the area.
Those businesses include Perfecto Coffeehouse, which opened last month on the same block. (
See related story). Other businesses that opened in recent months include Velvet Rose Beauty Bar and Gallery 788.
Daryl Landy , executive director of Pigtown Main Street, says the once-dormant Washington Boulevard is starting to get attention as more people move in. According to Live Baltimore Inc., 45 homes were sold in the area during the first half of 2009 and 119 were sold in 2008.
"It's virgin territory, untapped," Landy says of Pigtown. "People are starting to discover it."
Sources: Daryl Landy, Pigtown Main Street; Michael Mekbib, Spiritas; Berhard Sanders, Steel Drum Caf�
Writer: Julekha Dash