Charles Village : Development News

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

As the mother of four growing kids, Pam Corkran goes through a lot of clothes.

Corkran, is opening a consignment shop at 2123 N. Charles St. with the hopes that she can help out other moms, as well as students and professionals in similar shoes.

The Charles Village store called Too Good to be Thru will open Sept. 23 and hold a grand opening that day with food and music.
 
The shop will sell mostly clothes and home d�cor. Corkran hopes she can attract students and professionals at Johns Hopkins University, and area accountants and lawyers.

The shop owner has invested $10,000 to open the 1,750-square-foot store and took classes at the state-run small business development center at Towson University to get assistance with her business plan.

Originally from West Va., Corkran grew up in the neighborhood and wanted to come back to the area to start a business. The two-story store will sell shoes, purses, scarves, hats, skirts and dresses.

"It brought back a lot of memories," Corkran says of being in the neighborhood.

She found the space through a friend who owns the building.

So far, she has been promoting the store at area festivals, including Artscape, and on her Facebook page. 

It took about 18 months to get the building ready for business. It turns out that Baltimore City puts a consignment shop on equal footing as a pawn shop, so she had to get the support of neighborhood associations. She also had to get special zoning approval since the shop is in a residential building.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Pam Corkran, Too Good to be Thru

Charles Village residents now have a new neighborhood joint to get their mozzarella and pepperoni fix. Maxie's Pizza Bar Grille, a 110-seat casual restaurant, opened in April at 3003 N. Charles Street.

The 2,800-square-foot restaurant sells pizza, pasta and salads. And hopefully later in June, Maxie's will also have a full bar downstairs once it gets its liquor license,  says Luigi Romano , co-owner.Romano and his partner Luigi Coppola have invested about $400,000 to open the restaurant.

Romano moved from Philadelphia to Baltimore nine months ago after a cousin who operates several restaurants told Romano he thought his pizza skills could make some dough in Charm City.

Romano chose Charles Village because there wasn't another pizza shop like it in the area. (Ledo Pizza, however, will soon open a store about a block away).

Just across the street from Johns Hopkins University campus, Maxie's will hopefully fill students' craving for cheap and filling fare, Romano says. He has operated a similar restaurant near Temple University in Philadelphia and found that pizza plus college students are like mozzarella and tomato sauce -- a perfect match.

Romano also thought that a casual restaurant, rather than a pricey eatery, was the way to go. "The way the economy has been going, I thought of going back to pizza," Romano says. He has also operated an upscale restaurant in Doylestown, Pa. called Rustico.

Pizza by the slice runs between $2.25 and $3.50, while pasta dishes are a little pricier at about $11. Maxie's serves as many as 20 varieties at once, including Buffalo chicken, bacon and tomatoes, chicken pesto and cheesesteak pizza.

"There's always something going on," Romano says of Charles Village.  Romano also likes the fact that the area attracts a variety of people from all over the country working at Johns Hopkins.

Check out what else is happening in Charles Village!

Source: Luigi Romano, Maxie's
Writer: Julekha Dash

There are lots of places to grab a burger or a slice of pizza. But how many quick, casual places can serve up a flatbread?

That's why business owner Bassam Sares is opening Sandella's Flatbread Caf� this month in Charles Village � and not your local greasy spoon.

"I was looking for a healthy concept in that area," Sares says.

The franchise currently has 19 locations throughout the U.S. but the store at 3202 St. Paul Street will be the first one in Maryland. And Baltimore City could get a second Sandella's. Sares is eyeing the Mount Vernon neighborhood for another location.
 
Sares declined to say how much he is spending to open the store but franchisees pay between $150,000 to $250,000 in a new restaurant, according to the corporate office.

The 1,400-square-foot restaurant's flatbread includes the Brazilian Chicken Grilled Flatbread and the Pesto Chicken Grilled Flatbread. It also sells paninis, wraps and salads that cost around $7, with a side order and drink.

"It's something new and healthy," Sares says of the flatbreads. "There are too many pizza places and too many burger joints. We need something new and healthy. I think this is the new thing."

The neighborhood appealed to Sares because it holds a mix of residents and students. It's also been his home since 1993, when he moved to Baltimore from New York.

"It's a very nice neighborhood," Sares says. "It's a safe neighborhood. It's full of life and action."

Source: Bassam Sares, Sandella's Flatbread Cafe
Writer: Julekha Dash

Tucked away just off the corner of Howard and 27th Streets is Sweet Sin, a gluten-free cafe. The cafe, opened in October 2009, is the brainchild of Richard D'Souza and his wife, Renee, a Baltimore native.

"We moved to Baltimore from Hawaii for business reasons. My wife has Celiac's disease and is a pastry chef. She wanted to create something better than what was currently on the market. Five years ago there was almost nothing in the market and what was there was a lot like the sole of your shoe," D'Souza says.

Finding the location at 123 W. 27th Street, the former location of Charm City Cakes was a stroke of luck. "I didn't have a lot of money. The rent was dirt cheap and we liked the neighborhood," says D'Souza.
 
In five years and with just $8000, the couple had created a wholesale business selling their gluten-free cookies to national chains such as Whole Foods as well as regional chains including Wegmann's. "Every month we're in a new state."

The pair decided to invite the public into their shop with a retail location after they moved the bulk of their baking to a new location in Rosedale. "I was going to be paying rent for this place not matter what. A cupcake shop seemed like a good idea and people had been telling me they needed some gluten-free food, so I started cooking gluten-free food."

Sweet Sin was the result, but its only the beginning. With the recipes he's developed, D'Souza says he and his wife will expand their operations to include a restaurant next door in the former location of Three Sisters. He's just waiting to get a liquor license approved and expects the restaurant to open in about two months.

Source: Richard D'Souza, Sweet Sin
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Plenty of folks turn to matchmaking services to find a date. So, why not turn to one to find cash for your company? That's the idea behind Utah firm Funding Universe LLC, which hooks up entrepreneurs with would-be investors.
 
Here's how it Funding Universe works. Companies pay Funding Universe $99 to assess their investment needs. After analyzing the entrepreneur's credit history and business, the company offers a list of potential investors and lets them know where they should go to a bank, venture capital firm, or angel investors for cash.

If the business needs some tweaking, then Funding Universe tells the entrepreneur to revise his pitch. The business owner can do that on his own or tap Funding Universe's expertise, paying anywhere between $500 and $3,500 as a consulting fee.

Broke Blake, CEO of Funding Universe, is scouting the Baltimore area with plans to open an office within the next three to six months. The office will likely wind up in one of the Emerging Technology Centers offices in Canton or Charles Village. Blake is not sure yet which he will pick for the 1,000 to 2,000 square foot office.

"We'd like to make that happen soon," he says.

The company is also on the hunt for a regional director to head the office. Though the office will only employ a handful of people, he hopes it will nonetheless have a big impact in helping companies get funding.

Blake chose Baltimore because he has a lot of contacts in the region and they convinced him that his service could be useful to the community. Those business contacts include executives from the Baltimore Angels Network and the Maryland Technology Development Corp.

"I really want to cultivate the angel community and get active investors," Blake says.  


Funding Universe has 900 investors and 400 banks in its network, serves 10,000 businesses per month and has 70 employees.


Source: Brock Blake, Funding Universe LLC
Writer: Julekha Dash

A fast-growing pizza franchise is moving into Charles Village and plans to open 10 to 12 new stores this year.

Ledo Pizza System Inc. of Annapolis will open a 108-seat standalone restaurant next month at 3105 St. Paul Street near Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Museum of Art. That is according to the restaurant's General Manager and franchisee Burhan Ahmed.

He and his three partners invested $400,000 in the new restaurant. The bulk of that money is going toward equipment, design and construction. The restaurant will employ 40 and house two separate dining areas. Construction on the store began last month.

The pizza chain, which currently counts 90 locations, is eyeing Northern Virginia, Prince George's County and West Virginia  for the new stores it plans to open this year, Ledo's Vice President of Marketing Will Robinson says.

Though the average Ledo Pizza restaurant is between between 2,000 to 2,500 square feet, Ahmed plans to go bigger with the Charles Village eatery. He hopes the 3,500-square-foot restaurant can attract Johns Hopkins students and staff craving its square-shaped, thin-crust pizza, pasta and salads. Pizzas will cost between $6 and $25, depending on the size.

The Charles Village restaurant will also serve beer and wine as Ahmed has applied for a "Class B" liquor license, available to business owners that invest more than $200,000 into a new restaurant.  Store owners are also applying for a license to cater and serve customers outside during the warmer months.

Ahmed expects the restaurant to open between March 15 and March 25.


Sources: Will Robinson, Ledo PIzza;  Burhan Ahmed, Ledo Pizza
Writer: Julekha Dash

Whether you're a business owner, community organization or just a neighborhood regular, if you have a business opening or that has recently opened tell us about. You could find your new business featured in our development news section.

The Baltimore-based Parks & People Foundation, is offering up to $1,000 for groups interested in greening their neighborhood. The monies, part of a partnership with the Baltimore Community Foundation and the Cleaner Greener Baltimore Initiative, provides up to $1,000 in Neighborhood Greening Grants for those planning projects that will plant trees, create community gardens, clean up and restore vacant lots, clean up neighborhoods, create green schoolyards, improve water quality improve and provide environmental education activities. Grant funds may also be used for tools, plant material, equipment and other needed supplies.

Thanks to a push by PNC Bank to design environmentally friendly buildings, green isn't just the color of money � it's the color of the place where money changes hands.

The financial services group is the first major corporation to design and build LEED-certified bank branches known by the PNC trademarked term "Green Branches." The most recent of these opened in Charles Village, bringing the number of LEED-certified buildings built by PNC to 66 (the most built by any company in the world).  A new branch with green elements opened earlier this year in Harbor East and "Green Branch" is slated to open in Annapolis this fall.

Like all PNC Green Branches, at least 50 percent of the Charles Village was constructed with materials that were locally manufactured or made from recycled or environmentally-friendly materials, including flooring, wall covering and furniture fabric. Its cabinetry is made with non-ureaformaldehye substrates and the carpet in the entryways is made of hog's hair. Interior carpet tiles are made from 72 percent recycled material that is 100 percent recyclable back into carpet at the end of its lifecycle, and the hard floor surfaces are made from recycled rubber.

The location is also energy-efficient, using at least 35 percent less energy than a traditional branch and about 4,000 gallons less water due to high-efficiency systems, insulation, and window walls that are three times more efficient than code. During construction, wood, steel, aluminum and cardboard were recycled or salvaged to minimize waste, and non-chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants were selected for the cooling system to protect the ozone.

According to PNC representative Darcel Kimble, the decision to pursue green construction was led by Senior Vice President Gary Saulson beginning in 2002 at a time when the bank began expanding its branch network. He, along with senior management, decided upon a win-win scenario of making buildings that were less expensive to maintain and kinder to the Earth.

"We are really excited to be part of the Charles Village community," said Annie Spain, PNC Charles Village branch manager. "Our Green Branch is an example of how businesses can have a positive impact on the community without compromising the environment."

While the branch already is open for business, a grand opening event is slated for the fall. 

Writer: Lucy Ament
Source: PNC Bank

Remember when all it took to curry favor with the teacher was a shiny apple? That's so not going to cut it anymore.

Seawall Development Corporation is raising the bar for sweet teacher treatment to dizzying heights with the development of not one, but two commercial-residential spaces designed specifically for the needs and comfort of Baltimore's educators.

The story begins with Millers Court, the Remington/Charles Village space at W. 26th and N. Howard Streets that Seawall opened for occupancy last month. The original home of the H.F. Miller Can Company, the 86,000-square-foot, turn-of-the-century building was divided by Seawall, along with Marks, Thomas Architects and Contractor Hamel Builders (both of Baltimore), into 30,000 square feet of commercial office space and 40 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. The hook? The office space was marketed specifically to non-profits working in education, and the apartments to teachers, who receive discounts on rent.

It gets better. Seawall has recently initiated the purchase of a second building, Union Mill, that will follow the same pro-educator commercial-residential template. Completed in 1872 and located at Union and Buena Vista Avenues in Hampden, Union Mill is Maryland's largest stone mill and has been occupied over the years by Life Like Products, LLC and Life Foam, LLC. Seawall will team with the same architect and contractor to convert the 86,000 square foot building into 54 apartments for teachers and 36,000 square feet of commercial office space for non-profits (in all sectors).

Evan Morville, a partner at Seawall, says he shares a strong desire to help educators with his colleagues, Thibault Manekin and Donald Manekin, who was CEO of the Baltimore School System in the early 2000s.

"Each year there are 750 new teachers hired by Baltimore City, and about 50% are new to Baltimore," Evan explains. "The idea behind Millers Court and Union Mill is to be able to roll out the red carpet for these new teachers because they don't know the ideal place to live, and knowing their minimal salary, we wanted to create a place where they could come and feel welcome."

According to Morville, Seawall developed a special market research group with the help of Millers Court tenant Teach for America to determine the specific needs of teachers, and as a result included such amenities as an in-house photocopy center, a fitness center, a lounge and a courtyard. With their discount, educators can rent a one-bedroom apartment at Millers Court for $700-800 a month, a two-bedroom for $1,250, and a three-bedroom for $1,500. Projected rents at Union Mill are $875 for one bedroom and $1,475 for two.

The set-up for commercial space is novel, Morville notes, in that it enables non-profits, who might normally be spread out across the city, to share bathrooms, conference rooms and kitchens in order to reduce their overhead. Non-profits spend about $18 per-square-foot.

"We feel education is the greatest economic tool Baltimore has," Morville says. "The only way Baltimore can truly complete its renaissance is by having a school system that supports its ongoing residential and commercial development." And vice versa.

Source: Evan Morville, Seawall Development Corp.
Writer: Lucy Ament

Got a vacant lot of a certain size in your neighborhood? Then the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation may have designs on it. The organization, through its Swing for the Future project, plans to build multi-purpose, low maintenance Youth Development Parks in the city. The project, estimated at $6 million, will build state-of-the-art ballparks sporting artificial turf with a track and exercise stations, in five low-income neighborhoods throughout the city.

The first park will transform the unused property on the former Memorial Stadium site on 33rd Street. Foundation officials have joined with partners within the community to raise the $1.5 million needed to repurpose the vacant field. The Y of Central Maryland has teamed with the CRSF on the Stadium Place field. The Y will run the park which has been designed as a kid-scale replica of Memorial Stadium.

"The purpose is to give kids a safe and healthy place to interact and play. After we raise the mix of private and public funding, we will give the facility to a local community partner. We are using Baltimore as a model so we can take it to other cities and help kids all across country," says John Maroon, CRSF spokesman.

Early planning has already begun for a $1 million project in Park Heights near Pimlico Race Course. The partnership between CRSF, the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Baltimore and the city's Department of Recreation will be completed in 2011.

Three other sites will be selected in East Baltimore, West Baltimore and one as-of-yet undecided location in the city. Community groups will operate the parks offering neighborhood kids the chance to play baseball, football and other sports as well as the CRSF's baseball-centric character development programs.

Depending on the organizations ability raise the needed funding for the parks, the goal is to open one park a year. So far, donations have raised roughly 50 percent of the $1.5 million needed to build and fund programming for the Stadium Place park.

Source: John Maroon, CRSF
Writer: Walaika Haskins