Development : Buzz

Esquire contributor John Mariani has featured Baltimore in a new section of his website that highlights good day-trip destinations.

He focuses on restaurants in Mount Vernon, Harbor East and Little Italy, including Tio Pepe, Charleston, Aldo's Italian Restaurant and Chazz: A Bronx Original. 

"A good deal of the charm of the surrounding neighborhoods are its townhouses, built along British lines, with their identifying marble stoops, and there is a thriving Little Italy, adjacent to the Inner Harbor," Mariani writes. 

You can read the rest of his description of Charm City here. 

It's not often that cities get praised for tearing down buildings. 

But Next American City credited Baltimore for tearing down more than 300 unsafe structures last year. It joins Detroit and Youngstown, Ohio in the movement to demolish vacant buildings. 

"What Baltimore, Detroit, Youngstown and an increasing number of U.S. cities with shrinking populations have in common is a problem Americans are unused to solving: How to creatively and safely deconstruct our cities," Next American City writes. "In places like Baltimore—which has lost a third of its population since 1950 and where, depending on who you ask, almost 20,000 properties sit vacant—this breaking down and reinterpreting of place is already happening."

You can read the full article here. 

Johns Hopkins Hospital has unveiled its $1.1 billion twin towers. The new hospital will open April 29, reports the Baltimore Sun. 

"There will be X-boxes and a basketball court for kids, single rooms for all patients, sleeper-sofas for family, an improved dining menu and extensive sound proofing," the Sun writes. 

You can read more about the new hospital here. 

And you can read Bmore Media's story on the hospital here. 

Luxury, thy name is Baltimore.

After years of anticipation, the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore will open its doors this month. The 256-room property will feature a spa, two restaurants, café and two swimming pools. The chain's debut in Charm City has not only attracted the attention of local media, but national travel publications. Read more about the five-star hotel in Elite Traveler.

From the article, which details Baltiimore County's new fund raising: "The consolidated public improvement bonds will redeem outstanding consolidated public improvement BANs, which financed county public works, schools, parks, and other capital projects. The BANs will provide interim funding for the county's capital program." Read the full piece here.

Under Armour recently unveiled plans for a significant expansion of their corporate headquarters.

From the Sun:

Under Armour is hoping to double the size of its Baltimore headquarters to accommodate additional employees, a retail store and a company museum.

The sports apparel company wants to build an additional 400,000 square feet at Tide Point, an office complex in the Locust Point neighborhood that the firm, which had rented there for years, bought earlier this year.

The company envisions a 20,000-square-foot store opening in 2013, with offices and the museum to follow. Underground and surface parking are also planned.

Read the whole story here.

Recently released numbers show mixed results for Baltimore's real estate market in August. Sales were up, but prices were down.

From the source:

Baltimore-area home sales grew more than 6 percent in August, but the average sale price continued to tumble.

During the month, 2,046 homes were sold, up from 1,925 in August last year, according to Rockville market research firm Metropolitan Regional Information Systems.

The uptick in home sales, one of the better August months in the past several years, is likely tied to lower interest rates and cheaper homes.

Still, the average home sale price in the Baltimore area slipped 5.4 percent to $274,735.

The full story is here.

Frederick-based BlueRidge Bank will soon open a new retail location in Towson.

From the source:

BlueRidge Bank is scheduled to open its first full-service retail branch in the Baltimore area on Sept. 12.

The Frederick bank has had a commercial banking office in Towson since June 2010. But, its new Towson branch at 502 Washington St. marks BlueRidge’s first retail banking location outside Frederick County.

Read the rest here.

Plans to expand Baltimore's legendary Senator Theatre by adding a wine bar and new screens have been approved.

From the source:

The Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation approved proposed renovations to the Senator Theatre on Tuesday, according to the Baltimore Sun.

As previously reported, James "Buzz" Cusack and Kathleen Cusack, the Senator's operators, are seeking to add a wine bar and three more theaters to the building.

Read the full story.

Jay Davidson, one of the main folks responsible for bringing the Baltimore Grand Prix to fruition, is featured in the Baltimore Sun's Sun Magazine.

From the source:

Jay Davidson is, admittedly, no gear-head.

But as the president of the Baltimore Grand Prix, Davidson has been living and breathing all things IndyCar the past several months.

The inaugural race will bring dozens of high-speed open-wheel cars to Baltimore on Labor Day weekend, competing on a roughly two-mile course through downtown.

To prepare, city workers have had to shut down sections of major roads for repairs, angering many commuters. But the race and the festival that surrounds it will be worth all the aggravation, Davidson promises.

Read the full story here.

Baltimore County is looking to improve openness and walkability in Towson's core.

From the Sun:

"Baltimore County has a plan for the heart of Towson, and it looks like Allegheny Avenue.

In good weather Souris' Saloon can count on serving customers at tables under a black awning on the wide sidewalk where Allegheny meets the traffic circle at York Road. Down the block, Strapazza opens its sidewalk umbrellas for patrons. There's more seating out front at DiPasquale's and Ridgely & Ferrens, finer dining at Cafe Troia, a mix of small stores and the Penthouse high-rise condominium at the intersection of Washington Avenue.

Allegheny isn't burdened by empty storefronts common on streets elsewhere in the town center. And those involved in development efforts say there's also something working nicely in the block itself -- in the mix of businesses and details of windows, sidewalk layout, size of buildings and the way they appear to people walking on the street.

"This is the success story," County Councilman David Marks said, standing on the wide sidewalk outside Souris', where the outdoor tables are often busy long after the work day is over."

Read the full story here.

Its status as Baltimore's first State-designated arts district got the neighborhood revitalization started, but it's the area's small businesses that keep the place humming.

Check out a few pics from the NY Times slideshow.

Baltimore's twitterati were busy last week. So, even though we were on vacation, we saw a few we knew had to be on this week's TOTW list.

BRAC is coming and so are the jobs, hopefully this tweet from @MDBiz  will help you land a new gig! "A primer for BRAC job-seekers: MD's Mike Hayes on security clearances, timing & whether you need a college degree. http://bit.ly/c3Lf3K"

We're sooo looking forward to Artscape and this makes it even better! @WeightlessOne tweets, "There's a stoop storytelling workshop and performance for free on Saturday at #Artscape. http://bit.ly/d47peW."

@OpenSociety tweeted two really good questions, "How would you define "open society"? We often talk about the idea, but what does it mean to you?" and "Audacious Idea: What would Baltimore look like if everyone had a home? http://bit.ly/djyENV"  Send us your answers on Twitter!

Have you heard? @ABC2NEWS needs volunteers! "Top Stories: Extreme Home Makeover volunteers needed - The Extreme Home Makeover crew is calling on Baltimore area r... http://ow.ly/184Znd"

Dogs are always a winner! @BaltimoreMD "Doggies playing in the fountain outside our Visitor Center. #HappyPlace http://twitpic.com/23vfk0"

Want a chance for your tweet to make our list? Follow us @bmoremedia and @bmoremediame! You can also send us your favorite tweets on Twitter or via email.

When then-Mayor Martin O'Malley announced plans to redevelop a large swath of East Baltimore that would require the displacement of more than 500 families, it was met with a healthy dose of skepticism. Flash forward and the plan is being hailed as the model for other cities.

Here's an excerpt:

"The question is: Can we Americans be more sensitive than we were after World War II, when "urban renewal" forced inner-city residents - mostly black - to abandon their neighborhoods? The prime excuse then was to "eradicate blight." But the uses of the lost neighborhood land often told a different tale: flashy public projects, real estate opportunities for developers and massive freeways that plowed through low-income and minority areas.

Notwithstanding redevelopment around the Inner Harbor, much of Baltimore's inner city was a poster child for deindustrialization. It saw riots in the 1960s, a massive middle-class exodus, waves of drugs, crime, property "flippers" and slumlords.

The Casey Foundation was initially skeptical when Baltimore's mayor, now Gov. Martin O'Malley, asked for help with a $1 billion-plus plan to acquire and demolish hundreds of homes in the Middle East neighborhood, just north of the Johns Hopkins campus. The idea was to create an 88-acre community for life sciences research facilities, retail development and market-rate housing."

Read the entire op-ed here.

The New York Times takes a look at the city's arts districts and its plan to create a third arts district on the Baltimore's westside. The paper of record doesn't draw any conclusions but presents both sides of the debate.

Here's an excerpt

"The idea for a west side arts district has been around at least since the administration of Kurt L. Schmoke, Baltimore's mayor from 1987 to 1999. Over the years, the city took steps to improve the area, though without official arts district designation.

One step was to turn the old Hippodrome Theater at 12 North Eutaw Street into the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2003. Another was converting the century-old Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, at 21 South Eutaw Street, which was modeled on the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, into artists' studios.

Mr. Schmoke, now dean of the Howard University School of Law in Washington, said that while he had not seen specific plans for the new arts district, he supported the idea generally."

Read the entire article here.