Maryland Business

St. John Properties has announced the purchase of a one-acre parcel at 56 Timonium Road for redevelopment into 10,000-square-foot retail strip mall. Known as Timonium Exchange, the site is configured to hold a medley of tenants with businesses ranging from 1,500 to 4,500 square feet.

St. John said this week that it plans is to develop a mix of fast food tenants and small retailers and service businesses like hair salons and dry cleaners. The area is blessed with heavy traffic — data shows that more than 40,000 vehicles travel by Timonium Exchange daily. A report by NAI KLNB for the office market shows that the area has more than 7 million square feet of commercial office space, and a vacancy rate of 10 percent.

“This area remains under-served in the convenience retail and quick-serve food categories as consumers and businesspeople are constantly in search of amenities that address their busy lifestyles,” Bill Holzman, assistant vice president for retail leasing at St. John, said in a statement.

St. John also owns and manages Timonium Business Center, Yorkridge Center North and Yorkridge Center South, near the Exchange.

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Last week at a community meeting in Columbia, General Growth Properties unveiled plans to build a 75,000-square-foot lifestyle center at the Mall in Columbia. The changes are in the planning phase, and another meeting is set for Feb. 8.

The mall opened in 1971 and has 1.4 million square feet of retail space. The last renovation came in 2004 when an LL Bean store was added. This gussy up will see that store replaced to make way for the new lifestyle center.

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The Urban Land Institute will host a forum on Feb. 9 beginning at 4 p.m. at McHenry Row in Locust Point, the city’s new $125 million mixed-use development where new retail is poised to open by the summer.

The institute’s Baltimore Young Leader’s Group has invited local developer Mark Sapperstein to the forum to discuss the project. Sapperstein’s topics will include a look at the past three years of the project from inception to completion, including planning, financing and construction, all during the recession. The Greene Turtle, which recently opened its latest bar and restaurant there, will cater.

When completed, McHenry Row will hold 130,500 square feet of retail space and 65,000 square feet of office space. Leasing is underway for 250 upscale apartment units. Harris Teeter has already opened a 62,000-square-foot store there.

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Bethesda-based Beech Street Capital LLC, has provided a $14 million Fannie Mae conventional loan to refinance Woods Edge Apartments in Rockville.

The deal, a 10-year fixed-rate loan, was originated by Meridian Capital Group LLC, and was financed by Beech Street as part of its correspondent relationship with Meridian.
Woods Edge was built in 1965 and has 12 three-story buildings and a total of 162 units.

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Tidbits: KBE Building Corp. recently promoted Mike Tighe to director of field operations… Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has named Todd Ruckle relocation director for the Baltimore area. Ruckle will be responsible for educating Coldwell Banker’s residential sales associates on the value of relocation, as well as form strong business relationships with local and national companies and organizations… Trout Daniel & Associates recently leased a 12,800-square-foot space to That Bounce Place at 12400 Owings Mills Boulevard in the Owings Mills Sportsplex. The business is expected to open within three months.

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Foodie Watch: Donna’s Coffee Bar and Café is planning to reopen in the Park Plaza building in Mt. Vernon this spring, co-owner Alan Hirsch said this week. The restaurant and other businesses were gutted after a five-alarm fire ripped through the 109-year-old building in December 2010.

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The Daily Record’s “Photo of the Day” is a chance for our photographers to capture slices of life in their travels across Maryland. But we know there is much more going on in the state than what their lenses find.

That’s where you come in.

The Daily Record wants your photographs of what’s happening in Maryland for a new feature, “Maryland Moment.” The photo could be related to the news of the day or it could be a shot right outside your window. It can be an action shot (left) or just something very adorable.

You can send us your photos by using the form here. We ask that the photos be of something from the last week or so; we don’t want photos of Fourth of July fireworks in February.

If we like your Maryland Moment, we’ll post it online where our Photo of the Day normally resides and might publish it in the print edition as well.

So happy picture-taking. We can’t wait to see what develops.

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To tax? To build? To reprioritize? Regardless the answer, all of the state leaders who gathered Monday morning for the Greater Baltimore Committee’s legislative forum wanted to talk transportation.

The debate sparked after Paul Kelly, chairman of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, said that the proposed gas tax, coupled with proposed increases in registration fees, meant “[the legislature’s] just driving business away from Maryland.”

The panel, headed by Donald C. Fry, president and CEO of the GBC, consisted of E.J Pipkin, Senate minority leader; Edward J. Kasemeyer, chairman of the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee; Anthony J. O’Donnell, House minority leader; and Michael E. Busch, speaker of the House.

Pipkin, who staunchly opposes the proposed tax, said the real need was to re-prioritize funds, adding that, “If it’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs, we should be working to improve our road networks, not building mass transit.”

The proposed tax would help fund a Purple Line from Bethesda to New Carrollton and a Red Line in Baltimore.

Fry, though agreeing maintenance and repair is important, said that a growing population needs new transportation.

The Red Line, which would provide access to about 175 job sites along its route “would also help spur economic growth around the various stops,” Fry said. The line would connect Baltimore’s light rail and metro line.

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A Mt. Vernon landmark restaurant that closed down could be open again by spring and three annual coin shows threatened to leave Baltimore if Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget eliminates their tax breaks. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Brass Elephant could reopen by spring – by Melody Simmons

The “old lady” is coming back.

Baltimore’s historic Brass Elephant restaurant could reopen as early as spring with new owners, a real estate agent said Wednesday.

Workers were busy Wednesday inside the Mt. Vernon landmark checking the restaurant’s kitchen and operating systems, and the sale could close within 30 days, said Martin Kibbe, a ReMax Studio Realtor who listed the upscale eatery.

2. Coin show threatens to leave Baltimore over O’Malley budget – by Nicholas Sohr

An Atlanta company threatened to uproot three annual coin shows from Baltimore and move them out of state Thursday after Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to cut a tax break for precious coins and bullion sales.

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Sold-out, New England-bound buses carrying the Purple Nation are set to roll out of Baltimore early Saturday, tour promoters said.

The groups are heading north for Sunday’s AFC championship game between the Ravens and the Patriots – with a little partying along the way.

“We have sold 80 seats,” said Marc Komins, owner of Superior Tours in Pikesville, which will take two full buses to the Boston area leaving at 8 a.m. Saturday. “People can’t wait.”

The website for Canton-based Ravens Tours said the 60 packages offered on Monday that include a downtown Boston hotel room, game ticket and bar credits, but no transportation, were also sold out.

Nestor Aparicio, owner of the website WNST.net and WNST-AM, is also taking two buses to Providence, R.I., leaving Baltimore at 7 a.m. Saturday. His game packages, that include a hotel room, “purple pep rally,” upper deck game ticket at Gillette Stadium and liquid refreshments, sold briskly, he said.

Dubbed the “Miller Lite Festivus Roadtrip,” Aparicio said his total count is 100 fans. All are optimistic as they prepare to launch from Charm City.

“There’s a positive vibe about winning the game,” he said Friday afternoon.

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Construction is expected to begin at a $150 million Social Security Administration complex after a ceremonial groundbreaking set for Jan. 26 at 10:30 a.m.

More than 1,600 federal employees are expected to work at the site, at 6100 Wabash Ave., once it opens. The transit-oriented building will be built on state-owned property directly across from the Reisterstown Plaza Metro Station.

JBG Companies of Chevy Chase was selected in 2010 to design and develop the project. The new complex will replace the aged SSA Metro West facility at 300 N. Greene St. that opened on the city’s Westside more than 30 years ago. Federal officials have said they plan to sell the building once the employees transfer to the new location.

Clark Construction of Bethesda will be the general contractor.

The new complex will encompass more than 11 acres and result in 538,000 square feet of office space and 1,076 parking spaces.

Expected to help in the groundbreaking are Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue and Baltimore City Councilwoman Rochelle “Rikki” Spector.

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St. John Properties Inc. has broken ground on a fourth building at the successful Liberty Exchange complex west of Eldersburg near Randallstown. The building will be part of a planned 215,000-square-foot mixed-use space on Liberty Road near the intersection of Routes 32 and 26 in Carroll County that when complete will total 10 buildings.

St. John’s newest addition will be a single-story, 25,000-square-foot structure, near the company’s other existing spaces: a 16,645 square-foot-retail space, a 25,000-square-foot office building and a 61,000-square-foot research and development-flex space project.

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Call it the “old hat” syndrome.

That’s the likeliest explanation for why prices for AFC Championship game tickets on StubHub, an online ticket market place, are lower than those for the NFC Championship game.

As of 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, for $180 on StubHub, fans could see the Baltimore Ravens take on the New England Patriots for the AFC title at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The most expensive seats were going for $2,895.

Tickets for the NFC title game, which has the New York Giants taking on the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco started at $309 on StubHub, with two tickets topping out at $20,000.

“Fans haven’t been waiting as long for an AFC Champ[ionship] in Foxborough as they have in San Francisco,” said Joellen Ferrer, spokeswoman for StubHub.

The last NFC Championship game at Candlestick Park was in 1998, when the 49ers took on the Green Bay Packers. The Patriots played for the AFC title at home in 2008 and 2004.

But Ravens fans will be holding their ground in Foxborough this Sunday. More than 2,000 AFC Championship tickets have been purchased through StubHub, with Marylanders counting for 29 percent of the purchases, Ferrer said. Bay Staters came in at 26 percent. Buyers from Connecticut, New York and Ontario are also scooping up tickets, at 7, 5 and 3 percent, respectively.

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Lots of news from the General Assembly this week as the 90-day session began, and the Baltimore Ravens’ first home playoff game in five years means big things for local merchandise retailers. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Tremont Plaza to become apartments — by Melody Simmons

Baltimore’s Tremont Plaza Hotel will soon convert back to its original purpose: apartments.

The 390-suite property’s owners said Monday the rooms would soon be altered into apartments and long-term stay places.

Five members of the hotel’s sales staff were laid off on Friday after the renovations were announced, said Carol Chatham, a spokeswoman for the hotel’s owner, William C. Smith + Co. of Washington, D.C.

2. Miller, Busch consider different approaches for transportation – by Nicholas Sohr

Maryland’s top legislative leaders agree the state needs to spend more on transportation projects but they’re not willing to go along with the proposed 15-cent gasoline tax hike over three years.

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Ravens-Texans playoff ticket prices on StubHub, an online ticket marketplace, have come down 25 to 30 percent since the start of the week, company spokesperson Joellen Ferrer said Friday afternoon.

“The reason for the price drop is not a lack of demand, but it’s more a function of the marketplace in that tickets are a perishable commodity,” she said.

As of 1 p.m., the lowest price for an upper deck seat on StubHub was $139. If you want to be on the lower sideline for the sold-out game, prepare to dish out between $249 and $1,200 for seats. (By 1:20, the $1,200 tickets were gone.)

Lower sideline seats through TiqIQ, another online ticket marketplace, beat out those of StubHub by $50. Three lucky guests can sit in section 146, row 6 for the price of $1,250.

Ferrer said the top five markets for StubHub tickets are Maryland, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. Fifty-five percent of buyers are from Maryland, while 15 percent are from Texas. VA, PA, and NY come in at eight, five and four percent, respectively.

“People that have actually waited out until the last minute – it may have actually favored in their benefit,” Ferrer said.

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Look for construction to soon begin on the expansion of the Towson Circle development on Joppa Road near the traffic circle.

Sources say this $35 million extension and redevelopment is ready to launch after several years of uncertainty because of the sagging economy.

The local development team from The Cordish Cos. is planning to turn the space once known as the Towson Hutzler’s department store into a “thriving lifestyle retail project,” according to their website.

Included in the project’s expansion will be a 14-screen multiplex cinema and new retail and office space in a pedestrian-friendly town square design.

Immediate plans call for demolition and site clearing of the vacant former 1st Mariner Bank building and Burger King restaurant on Joppa Road to make way for the growth. A Cordish spokeswoman declined to reveal specifics Thursday, saying instead “we’ll be making announcements shortly.”

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Want to connect with your inner William Donald Schaefer?

The late mayor was famous for driving around his hometown streets, taking notes where potholes, trash, broken street lights and other eyesores were located, and demanding repairs in so-called “action memos” sent to agency heads who understood the order to “do it now.”

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