News
UH OH, DID YOU WAIT TOO LONG?
July 19, 2012
| If you were hoping to get some office space at McHenry Row, the only way may be to rent one of the 68 apartments left. (People arealways saying they want to work from home.) Negotiations with one office tenant and two more restaurants, if they work out, will seal the deal on any commercial space there. |
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| 28 Walker Development COO Abe Rosenthal, left, tells us 182 of the 250 apartments at the mixed-use community are leased. He's pictured with McHenry Row office and apartments general contractor Kinsley Construction's Robert Kinsley and McHenry Row developer Mark Sapperstein. |
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| Most of the apartments are going to new-to-Baltimore students and staff of Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland medical schools and hospitals. They like having all the services they need—grocery, bank, restaurants, and a nail salon (yes, this is a need)—within a few blocks. Abe says they don't even need cars, using the Charm City Circulator to get to work/school. Now, 28 Walker is hosting special events to make those JHU and U of M residents mix. Imagine the super-smart, super-Maryland devoted babies! |
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| Abe also tells us Harris Teeter, which we snapped in December just after it opened, has 30% more visitors than projected. Folks come from Downtown, south of McHenry Row, Catonsville, and some even through the Fort McHenry Tunnel from Canton. Abe says Harris Teeter usually decides whether to go 24/7 after a year. For now, there are no more lawsuits contesting The Cellars, an independent liquor store that has its own entrance but also opens into Harris Teeter. Abe says perhaps those opposed (who basically claim the grocery store is selling alcohol and thus violating liquor laws) are finally acknowledging that people like getting food and alcohol in one place and the lawsuits aren't going to stick. |
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| We asked Abe what it is that people love about The Green Turtle(above), which opened at McHenry Row in February. His take: the 54 TVs. (You know kids these days: They need to see their Judge Judyfrom every angle.) Other openings this year include Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches, Red Parrot Asian Bistro, and Yogi Castle frozen yogurt. All that's left is a spot next to The Green Turtle, where Abe is negotiating with a salad/Mediterranean kind of place, and an endcap (just behind us when we took that photo of The Cellars and Harris Teeter two pictures up). Abe says he's talking to a local restaurateur with multiple locations for that one. And over in the 86k SF office building, Veins Clinic of America is scheduled to open Aug. 1 and Bikram Yoga Sept. 1, both around 3,500 SF. That leaves 6,000 SF, for which an office tenant could be announced within days. |
