This Week's Baltimore Deal Sheet
On Saturday, following a public meeting about the planned redevelopment of Baltimore's Harborplace pavilions, MCB Real Estate's P. David Bramble said he intends to demolish the structures as part of that transformation.
MCB Real Estate closed a deal in July to buy the pavilions, which had been in receivership for years.
In the months since, the firm has held several public meetings to gather input from residents on what they want to see included as part of an overhaul of the site. Since the city approved his firm acquiring the property, Bramble has made it clear that any overhaul of the retail site would include mixed-use development.
Jimmy Rouse, son of prominent Baltimore developer James K. Rouse, told the Baltimore Sun this week there is no reason to demolish the Harborplace pavilions that his father created as part of transforming the city's decrepit waterfront into the tourist-friendly Inner Harbor more than 40 years ago.
“Those two pavilions served as a model of urban redevelopment throughout the world, really, internationally as well as nationally,” Rouse told the newspaper on Monday. “There’s no need to tear them down.”
When the pavilions opened in 1980, they, along with the National Aquarium in 1981, served as capstones for the decades-long project to revitalize Baltimore's downtown by activating its waterfront.
The pavilions represented what James K. Rouse described as a “festival marketplace,” a concept he imported to Baltimore from Boston, where he teamed with architect Benjamin Thomas to create the first such concept at Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market.
Harborplace served as a significant draw for tourists and residents alike for decades. However, under successive owners, the properties slowly slid into disrepair after Rouse died in 1996. Rouse's eponymous company sold the glass-encased mall buildings in 2004 to General Growth Properties, which, after a bankruptcy, sold the property to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. in 2012.
In 2019, a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge ordered the property into receivership after Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. defaulted on its loan for the property.
LEASES
Baltimore-based Atlas Restaurant Group said it plans to relocate its corporate headquarters and open a new restaurant at the E.J. Codd Co. building in Harbor East at 700 South Caroline St. Atlas Restaurant's offices will occupy about 15K SF. Both the offices and the restaurant are expected to open late next year.
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Fells Point Famers Market staple Arepi plans to open a brick-and-mortar location in the neighborhood at 1616 Thames St., the Baltimore Business Journal reports. The Venezuelan arepas maker plans to open its eatery early next year, backfilling the vacant space left when Luna Garden closed in August.
DEVELOPMENT
Lexington Market backers plan to dedicate part of its plaza as the Lexington Market History Walk on Saturday at 10 a.m. The walk includes interactive installations such as interpretative signage, rubbing panels and historic imagery exploring the market’s roughly 200 years of history. The landmark public market celebrated opening a new $45M building in late January.
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Harford County residents voiced support Monday for two County Council bills aimed at thwarting new development in that jurisdiction, WBAL-TV reports. One bill restricts warehouse and distribution facilities to certain designated areas and limits their size to 250K SF. Another bill proposes banning apartment construction in places the county zoned as General Business Districts.
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A community group called the Green Towson Alliance issued a letter to Baltimore County officials requesting a development moratorium within the Jones Falls sewer shed, Patch.com reports. Developers have completed 2.5M SF of new buildings in that area since 2012.
PERSONNEL
Baltimore-based Greenberg Gibbons hired Anthony Jeffrey as a leasing associate. Jeffrey has a background in marketing and leasing. Additionally, he serves as the ICSC NextGen co-chair for D.C. and Northern Virginia.
