The Rotunda these days is but a shell of its former self.

The North Baltimore retail and office complex was hit hard when the Giant Food store closed its doors to move about a mile away to the Green Spring Tower Shopping Center in a former Super Fresh site.

Mid-morning one day this week, there were fewer than a dozen shoppers at the Rotunda. The hallways, once bustling with retail, were empty.

“It’s not much traffic,” lamented Fariba Sadgdi, manager at the Hair Cuttery. “To me, there is no reason for people to come here except for the movie theater.”

Sadgdi said there is a “98 percent chance” that her shop will be the next defection from the Rotunda, moving to the Green Spring Tower Shopping Center just like Giant in the near future.

She said the shop’s management has had little to no contact from the mall’s owners, Hekemian & Co., saying, “We’re dangling. We don’t know what’s going on. Business is down 25 percent.”

Chris Bell, vice president for development at Hekemian was unavailable for comment.

Nearby, Sheldon Pearlman, owner of Amazing Spiral, a novelty book and toy store, said the loss of Giant at the Rotunda had slowed traffic.

Striving to remain optimistic, Pearlman said the Rotunda Cinema would soon add a fourth screen that would bring in more patrons over the summer with some popular films getting ready to premier. In response, he said his store has extended its hours to 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Powered by Bookmarkify™

When Orioles starting pitcher Tommy Hunter got shelled for five runs in four and one-third innings Sunday versus the Red Sox in a 17-inning marathon, manager Buck Showalter had little choice but to send the struggling righty to the minor leagues.

Cutting or demoting players isn’t something Showalter, a major league manager for 14 seasons, enjoys. But he goes in with a plan that could be helpful to all supervisors and human resources professionals, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

The key is to appear confident and comfortable — even if you’re not.

“I make sure I get a good night’s sleep. I make sure I’m clean-shaven,” Showalter told Businessweek. “When they’re sitting across from me, I want them to know that I’ve got a clear head and that it was important to me to give them the time to explain what’s going on.”

The O’s skipper said he asks questions and gives players the opportunity to tell him what they think they did well and in what areas they need improvement.

He also said there’s always someone else in the room with him — a third party that can vouch for what was said in the meeting.

And If things turn ugly, Showalter is ready, too.

“I’ve had a bat within short reach,” he said.

The main takeaways: don’t waffle, encourage engagement and be honest. This is someone’s livelihood you’re talking about, after all.

Hunter, the pitcher who was sent to Triple A Monday, was back in Baltimore by Thursday after starting pitcher Jason Hammel couldn’t make his scheduled start against the Texas Rangers. But he won’t be the last player to be demoted or cut by Showalter, who is managing his second full year in Baltimore.

“I don’t ever want to be good at it,” Showalter said.

What he does want to be good at is managing the Birds to their first winning record since 1997.

With the Orioles sitting at 20-12 and tied for first place in the American League East, it’s so far, so good for the O’s de facto HR expert.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Baltimore’s entrepreneurs want a helping hub, according to a study released earlier this month by the Innovation Allian ce of Baltimore.

More than 85 percent of the 170-plus people surveyed said they would use a “hub,” a communal space for meetings, mentoring and educational programs to connect the area’s entrepreneurs.

The hub would removes barriers “to community and connectivity” and “could not only fill the gaps identified in the survey, but emerge as a new model that measures itself by job generation and wealth creation that is replicable and sustainable,” the report said.

The Alliance also held a town hall meeting with entrepreneurs, investors, attorneys and other community members and professionals.

The $75,000 study was paid for by Baltimore’s Abell Foundation. Burtonsville-based Facility Logix conducted the study and provided recommendations, including how the proposed hub should operate.

You can see the full report here.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

NAIOP Maryland honored 16 companies and seven individuals Thursday night before a crowd of more than 300 real estate and development types during its Awards of Excellence program at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore.

Honors were given out in 34 categories for excellence in the design, development, marketing and leasing of commercial office buildings and retail projects in the metropolitan area.

Local developer Mark Sapperstein won “most creative transaction” honors for the new McHenry Row development in Locust Point, which stalled because of the recession and was brought back to life through creative public and private financing.

The retiring CEO of Corporate Office Properties Trust, Randall M. Griffin, was given a lifetime achievement award. The late Fred Glassberg, founder of Crystal Hill Investments, was posthumously honored with the Distinguished Merit Award.

For those keeping score, St. John Properties, Inc. took home the most awards of the night with six, followed by Corporate Office Properties Trust, with five.

“The NAIOP Awards of Excellence Program is a biannual celebration and recognition of the innovative achievements of regional commercial real estate developers, as well as the companies and individuals that service our industry in the Maryland region,” said Dianna Wilhelm, president of NAIOP Maryland.

“Each winner represents a compelling example of how a unique challenge was overcome to realize a result that was economically, environmentally and aesthetically feasible. In recent years, a higher percentage of our award categories have honored projects that satisfy Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, to reflect the significant shift in our industry to develop environmentally friendly projects,” she added.

Read the rest of this entry »

Powered by Bookmarkify™

When Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass looks into the stands at M&T Bank Stadium,  he sees “a sea of screaming purple.”

His goal is to grow that sea, Cass said in a speech at the Downtown Partnership’s 2012 State of Downtown Breakfast on Thursday.

“We don’t take anything for granted,” Cass said. “We are the second youngest franchise in the NFL. We don’t know what will happen to us and to our fans if we suffer through three years straight of 5-11 football. We don’t want to find out, either.”

If that were to ever happen, Cass said he knows fans would be “angry” and “disgusted.” The hope, however, is that they won’t turn their backs on the team, regardless of what’s on the scoreboard.

“When you think about teams like the Steelers, the Eagles and the Giants, they’ve reached that status. We’re not there yet,” he said. “That’s our goal, that’s why we’re working hard to grow our fan base in any way we can.”

But that’s not to say the Ravens’ fan base is struggling: In the team’s 2000 season, an average of 18 percent of households in the Baltimore metropolitan area – the city and its five surrounding counties -  tuned into TV broadcasts of the team’s regular season games. In the 2007 season, that number jumped to25 percent, and the 2011 season saw 37.3 percent of households tuning in, Cass said.

Cass also highlighted improvements at the team’s stadium, including the completion of a 4G wireless network in December and ongoing capital upgrades.

“We’ve got 15 years left on our lease, and we always want to be the very highest and best stadium in the league,” he said.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

A moratorium on placing liens on city houses solely for unpaid water or sewer charges will be introduced Monday night at the Baltimore City Council following a scathing audit that showed widespread problems in the city’s billing system.

City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and City Councilman Carl Stokes said Monday they planned to introduce a resolution to halt listing properties in the city’s annual tax sale based solely on unpaid water or sewer charges for up to two years. In May 2010, 851 properties were included in the city’s tax sale based solely on estimated readings for a year or more.

An audit of the water and sewer billing process found the Department of Public Works had over-billed up to 70,000 customers, which will result in refunds totaling more than $4 million. Other homes with new water meters had not received water bills for three years, the audit found.

The audit also found that the department relied on estimated meter readings for a year or more in more than 18,000 properties — and that 2,600 customers received estimated bills for at least four-and-a-half years.

“I’ve encountered too many constituents on fixed incomes who routinely have to choose between feeding their families and buying needed medication or paying improperly estimated water bills, which if left unpaid have the danger of forcing them into homelessness,” Young said in a statement. “It’s time we do something serious to remedy this situation which has driven too many Baltimoreans further into poverty.”

Young’s office said he plans to introduce later this month an ordinance to enforce the moratorium through a change in city law.

The audit also found that a quarter of the total, adjusted water billings over the past three years were the result of estimated billings, which totaled $31.7 million. Some customers complained that efforts to correct the billing errors resulted in over-billings.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

The Board of Estimates, Baltimore’s spending panel, will hear Wednesday a protest from resident and community activist Kim Trueheart on an agenda item she called “foul” and “awful.”

Trueheart, who said she has been coming to the Board of Estimates’ weekly meetings since August, filed a protest to the $20,800 request by the Department of Recreation and Parks for a driver for agency administrators and staff.

“I think in an austere budget crunch, justifying a wasteful, potentially abusive measure like that, in light of closing recreation centers, is completely inappropriate and lacks fiscal discipline,” she said.

Though Trueheart said she does not expect the board to reject the item, she is looking for the chance to have her concern heard.

For at least the last two years, the BOE has approved a driver for the agency, according to the board’s online minutes.

“It’s a new year,” Trueheart said. “If we’re really pinching pennies, then this kind of decision making is in really poor taste.”

Gwendolyn Chambers, a spokeswoman for the Department of Recreation and Parks, said the agency does not comment on personnel matters.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

New restaurants come to West Baltimore and Arundel Mills and a new (and controversial) fountain coming to Union Square are among the most-read business stories of the week. The list also includes the Baltimore Grand Prix receiving new management. The Top 5 business stories of the week are:

1. Panera Bread opening on W. Baltimore St. — by Daily Record Staff

Panera Bread, a national chain of fast-casual restaurants, plans to open its third location in Baltimore City Wednesday at 400 W. Baltimore St., a retail redevelopment project across from the Hippodrome Theatre.

More than 50 full-time and part-time employees are expected to work in the 4,671- square-foot restaurant.

2. Suns could set on Hagerstown — by Maria Zilberman

The majority owner of the Hagerstown Suns has signed a letter of intent to move his minor league baseball team to Winchester, Va., but citizens in that community are pushing back against the idea.

The potential move comes after Major League Baseball and the Washington Nationals, with whom the Class-A Suns are affiliated, requested improvements to 82-year-old Municipal Stadium, where the team has played since 1981.

Read the rest of this entry »

Powered by Bookmarkify™

That gentleman to the right in the snug, black T-shirt is celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, he of the short temper and fabulous hair. The lady in red is Cafe Hon owner Denise Whiting, and she probably wishes Chris De Burgh was somewhere close by.

Four months after Ramsay apparently got Whiting to give up her trademark on the word “Hon,” a national television audience will find out how he did it. Cafe Hon’s turn on Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares” will air Friday night on Fox.

The show, for those not familiar, follows Ramsay as he whips a struggling restaurant into shape, often with the tough love only he can provide. Here’s the synopsis from the show’s website of of Ramsay’s trip to Charm City:

Chef Ramsay heads to Baltimore… and immediately has his hands full when he visits Cafe Hon, a Southern Comfort eatery in need not only of a restaurant renovation but also a public image makeover. The owner of Cafe Hon has come under fire from the city of Baltimore for trademarking the word “Hon” – a term of endearment for Baltimore culture. Find out if the restaurant revamp and renewed public image will be enough to win back the city of Baltimore and revive its tradition of southern comfort cooking.

Meanwhile, another Baltimore establishment is getting a similar treatment this week. “Bar Rescue,” which aims to do for watering holes what Ramsay does for restaurants, is filming at J.A. Murphy’s in Fells Point.

J.A. Murphy’s was one of 260 bars to apply for the show’s second season, according to The Baltimore Sun, and will be closed for renovations Friday before a “reveal” party is held Saturday night.

No date has been set yet for J.A. Murphy’s episode of “Bar Rescue,” according to The Sun, but it is expected to air by the end of the summer.

Powered by Bookmarkify™