This Week's Baltimore Deal Sheet
St. John Properties inked a deal for a tenant to open a 10-court pickleball facility within a 67-acre business park in Anne Arundel County.
Entrepreneur Timothy Schnupp and investors Jimmy Hall and Sonny Tannan plan to open the first phase of the facility, branded as The Dink at Severna Park, this summer. It will occupy 22,917 SF at 254 Najoles Road, part of the I-97 Business Park.
Chase Bourdelaise and Ian Deihle of Transwestern represented The Dink in the deal. Michael Tait of St. John Properties represented the landlord.
The deal with The Dink is at least the second pickleball court St. John Properties has signed to a lease in the last few months. In early December, the landlord announced it signed a lease with Baltimore Pickleball Club LLC for 12K SF at Timonium Exchange, a 200K SF, single-story flex/R&D building.
“An individual does not need to be freakishly athletic to excel at the sport because the court is relatively small and the ball travels much slower than other racquet-based games,” Schnupp said in a statement. “You don’t have to invest countless hours on the weekend like you do with other sports. It is extremely accessible and inclusive for people of all ages and experience levels, along with relatively inexpensive to get started."
DEVELOPMENT
When Oriole Park at Camden Yards debuted in 1992, it launched a new era for urban ballparks. Now the franchise is studying a brand-new ballpark in suburban Atlanta for inspiration to upgrade Baltimore’s classic stadium.
Team and state officials are examining the Atlanta Braves' Truist Park, and its surroundings, as a potential model for Camden Yards’ next evolution, the Baltimore Sun reported.
The Orioles’ stadium lease with the state expires at the end of 2023. But Maryland’s General Assembly is expected to approve new funding for upgrades to the park and surrounding areas to entice the team to sign a new long-term lease.
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Wood Partners recently announced the start of construction on its newest apartment building, The Quill by Alta, in Baltimore's Federal Hill neighborhood. The developer expects the 270-unit building to open in 2024. The new building represents the second phase of the Alta Federal Hill that delivered in the fall of 2021.
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Green Street Housing and TM Associates Development started construction on the second and third phases of the Village at Slippery Hill in Queenstown, according to Multi-Housing News. Once all three stages are complete, the development will provide 186 affordable units.
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Gov. Wes Moore and Howard County Executive Calvin Ball unveiled plans to transform the library in Downtown Columbia along with the addition of new affordable housing options. A parcel of land once slated as the site for a replacement library in Columbia’s Merriweather District will now be developed to include at leased 240 units of mixed-income housing.
THIS AND THAT
Guinness plans to shutter beer-making operations at its Baltimore-area brewery. The brand's parent company, Diageo North America Inc., filed notice of plans to lay off about 100 employees, according to the Baltimore Banner. However, the facility’s taproom and restaurant will remain open.
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A U.S. Department of Labor investigation concluded a pair of construction firms — Baltimore-based Stark Truss and Temple Hills-based Jordi Construction — owe workers nearly $300K in back wages and fines for failing to pay overtime, according to the Baltimore Sun.
