Silver Springer
February 15th, 2007, 07:50 PM
Rotunda may hurt Hampden
Merchants consider leaving 36th Street
02/14/07
By Adam Bednar
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Nancy Graboski shows off her store, Gallery g at the Beveled Edge, the newest tenant in the Rotunda shopping mall. She sees the Rotunda's future as bright and says energy is coming back to the mall.
Redevelopment of the Rotunda shopping mall is coming -- and some shopkeepers in Hampden are considering leaving.
"All I can say is, Go Hamilton!" said merchant Susannah Siger, referring to a neighborhood well to the northeast of Hampden.
"(Hamilton) may be a market that is open to us, but wouldn't that be a shame if Hampden lost its independent businesses," she said.
Siger, an early settler of Hampden's increasingly trendy main drag, 36th Street, known as the Avenue, owns two boutique stores on the commercial strip between Keswick and Falls Roads, Oh Said Rose and Ma Petite Shoe.
Benn Ray, president of the Hampden Merchants Association and owner of the stores Atomic Books and Atomic Pop, said Rotunda redevelopment could doom the independent business community on 36th Street. He, too, is looking elsewhere.
"I'm expecting it to kill my business," Ray said.
Ground could be broken as soon as September on Hekemian and Co.'s $130 million redevelopment of the Rotunda as a mixed- use center with 400 units of upscale housing, including rental apartments in two towers -- one of them 22 stories tall.
Hekemian anticipates naming a contractor in the next 30 days, said Chris Bell, senior vice president for acquisitions and development.
Plans also call for condominiums and town houses for sale; a new, much larger Giant supermarket; a renovated Rite-Aid drugstore; 1,600 parking spaces, most of them in an underground garage; four new restaurants, including one in a former power plant on the 11-acre Rotunda site; and a a number of new stores, including a bookstore, health club, a home goods and furnishing store and an ice cream parlor.
Rotunda rebounding
Merchants at the Rotunda are certainly happy about the proposed redevelopment of the mall, which has treaded water financially in recent years and seen several longtime tenants leave.
"Energy has come back to the Rotunda," said Nancy Graboski, who owns the Rotunda's newest tenant, the custom framing and fine art store Gallery g at the Beveled Edge.
Graboski plans to host art shows and expand soon, to include an espresso bar.
Robert Smallwood, who has been a senior manager at Radio Shack in the Rotunda for nine years, said he can feel the mall rebounding.
"When you've been on the wave as long as I have, you know your up times and down times," Smallwood said. "There is a high wave coming."
Arlene Grinblat, owner of Tomlinson Craft Collection, feels it, too. She just hopes she can survive the renovation of the mall. "We're looking forward to the finished product, but we're concerned about the in between, with all the construction," Grinblat said.
Stiff competition
But while merchants at the Rotunda are excited, some merchants on 36th Street are not.
Ray, the Messenger's Hampden neighborhood columnist, said he recently opened the novelty gift shop Atomic Pop in an attempt to diversify. He said he's afraid that a chain bookseller in the nearby Rotunda -- coupled with the recently opened Barnes & Noble in Charles Village -- would squeeze Atomic Books out of business.
Ray said he is actively looking to move Atomic Books to another community where it wouldn't face such competition. And he said if other merchants follow suit, the Avenue would wither.
"If it kills business here, we're going to have a situation like we had 15 years ago with a blighted 36th Street," Ray said.
However, the demise of 36th street isn't a foregone conclusion, Ray admitted. If residents of the proposed housing at the Rotunda walk to 36th Street to shop, it could be good for business, he said.
"I don't want to be one of those people that says, 'Oh, change, bad. It might be good," Ray said.
Siger said she still believes Avenue stores can compete with bigger ones in the Rotunda, but she said, "We have to be very savvy."
Not all merchants on 36th Street fear the Rotunda redevelopment.
"I'm not worried one whit about what stores go in up at the Rotunda because I sell antiques," said Elissa Strati, owner of Avenue Antiques.
Although she worries about parking and housing density, Strati believes that the additional residents could benefit her business. They will need to furnish their new homes, she reasoned.
The larger-scale development in the area shouldn't surprise anyone because "Hampden's the hottest spot in Baltimore," Strati said.
Bell and Hekemian's local land- use consultant, Al Barry, insist that redevelopment is not a death sentence for merchants near the mall. They have told an advisory council of community leaders that they would like to link the mall with 36th Street through marketing and possibly through pedestrian access, such as a walkway.
"We want businesses along 36th Street, which are independent, to coexist with national tenants at the Rotunda," Barry said.
Hekemian envisions a mix of independent and chain stores in the mall, too, Barry said.
'Hard to swallow'
Area residents are still mistrustful of redevelopment plans, despite concerted efforts by Hekemian to include the Rotunda's neighbors in the planning process by forming a community advisory council.
But another group, the Hampden Community Council, a de facto community association, is leery of the planned 22-story residential tower, said George Peters Jr., chairman of the zoning committee.
"Keep in mind, we're not just talking about the largest building in Hampden -- we're talking about one of the largest buildings in the entire city," Peters said.
"It's kind of a hard thing to swallow," said Peters, who fears that Hampden will lose its identity. "We moved to this neighborhood because we didn't want to live in Canton."
Joe Leatherman, a community activist, said the project's 400 units of housing make it too intensive. He and Peters also worry that in a weak housing market, the condos and town houses could sit empty.
Traffic concerns
Peters doesn't believe the neighborhood can handle the increase in traffic caused by redevelopment. Baltimore City recently installed reverse-angle parking spaces on several streets to ease the parking crunch, which Peters and Leatherman said would only get worse with redevelopment.
Frank Murphy, deputy chief of the traffic division of Baltimore's Department of Transportation, said his staff is still reviewing the traffic impact study.
But he believes the numbers in the study are accurate and that the streets around a redeveloped Rotunda would see an 8 percent increase in traffic.
E-mail staff writer Adam Bednar @ abednar@patuxent.com.
Merchants consider leaving 36th Street
02/14/07
By Adam Bednar
Email this story to a friend
Nancy Graboski shows off her store, Gallery g at the Beveled Edge, the newest tenant in the Rotunda shopping mall. She sees the Rotunda's future as bright and says energy is coming back to the mall.
Redevelopment of the Rotunda shopping mall is coming -- and some shopkeepers in Hampden are considering leaving.
"All I can say is, Go Hamilton!" said merchant Susannah Siger, referring to a neighborhood well to the northeast of Hampden.
"(Hamilton) may be a market that is open to us, but wouldn't that be a shame if Hampden lost its independent businesses," she said.
Siger, an early settler of Hampden's increasingly trendy main drag, 36th Street, known as the Avenue, owns two boutique stores on the commercial strip between Keswick and Falls Roads, Oh Said Rose and Ma Petite Shoe.
Benn Ray, president of the Hampden Merchants Association and owner of the stores Atomic Books and Atomic Pop, said Rotunda redevelopment could doom the independent business community on 36th Street. He, too, is looking elsewhere.
"I'm expecting it to kill my business," Ray said.
Ground could be broken as soon as September on Hekemian and Co.'s $130 million redevelopment of the Rotunda as a mixed- use center with 400 units of upscale housing, including rental apartments in two towers -- one of them 22 stories tall.
Hekemian anticipates naming a contractor in the next 30 days, said Chris Bell, senior vice president for acquisitions and development.
Plans also call for condominiums and town houses for sale; a new, much larger Giant supermarket; a renovated Rite-Aid drugstore; 1,600 parking spaces, most of them in an underground garage; four new restaurants, including one in a former power plant on the 11-acre Rotunda site; and a a number of new stores, including a bookstore, health club, a home goods and furnishing store and an ice cream parlor.
Rotunda rebounding
Merchants at the Rotunda are certainly happy about the proposed redevelopment of the mall, which has treaded water financially in recent years and seen several longtime tenants leave.
"Energy has come back to the Rotunda," said Nancy Graboski, who owns the Rotunda's newest tenant, the custom framing and fine art store Gallery g at the Beveled Edge.
Graboski plans to host art shows and expand soon, to include an espresso bar.
Robert Smallwood, who has been a senior manager at Radio Shack in the Rotunda for nine years, said he can feel the mall rebounding.
"When you've been on the wave as long as I have, you know your up times and down times," Smallwood said. "There is a high wave coming."
Arlene Grinblat, owner of Tomlinson Craft Collection, feels it, too. She just hopes she can survive the renovation of the mall. "We're looking forward to the finished product, but we're concerned about the in between, with all the construction," Grinblat said.
Stiff competition
But while merchants at the Rotunda are excited, some merchants on 36th Street are not.
Ray, the Messenger's Hampden neighborhood columnist, said he recently opened the novelty gift shop Atomic Pop in an attempt to diversify. He said he's afraid that a chain bookseller in the nearby Rotunda -- coupled with the recently opened Barnes & Noble in Charles Village -- would squeeze Atomic Books out of business.
Ray said he is actively looking to move Atomic Books to another community where it wouldn't face such competition. And he said if other merchants follow suit, the Avenue would wither.
"If it kills business here, we're going to have a situation like we had 15 years ago with a blighted 36th Street," Ray said.
However, the demise of 36th street isn't a foregone conclusion, Ray admitted. If residents of the proposed housing at the Rotunda walk to 36th Street to shop, it could be good for business, he said.
"I don't want to be one of those people that says, 'Oh, change, bad. It might be good," Ray said.
Siger said she still believes Avenue stores can compete with bigger ones in the Rotunda, but she said, "We have to be very savvy."
Not all merchants on 36th Street fear the Rotunda redevelopment.
"I'm not worried one whit about what stores go in up at the Rotunda because I sell antiques," said Elissa Strati, owner of Avenue Antiques.
Although she worries about parking and housing density, Strati believes that the additional residents could benefit her business. They will need to furnish their new homes, she reasoned.
The larger-scale development in the area shouldn't surprise anyone because "Hampden's the hottest spot in Baltimore," Strati said.
Bell and Hekemian's local land- use consultant, Al Barry, insist that redevelopment is not a death sentence for merchants near the mall. They have told an advisory council of community leaders that they would like to link the mall with 36th Street through marketing and possibly through pedestrian access, such as a walkway.
"We want businesses along 36th Street, which are independent, to coexist with national tenants at the Rotunda," Barry said.
Hekemian envisions a mix of independent and chain stores in the mall, too, Barry said.
'Hard to swallow'
Area residents are still mistrustful of redevelopment plans, despite concerted efforts by Hekemian to include the Rotunda's neighbors in the planning process by forming a community advisory council.
But another group, the Hampden Community Council, a de facto community association, is leery of the planned 22-story residential tower, said George Peters Jr., chairman of the zoning committee.
"Keep in mind, we're not just talking about the largest building in Hampden -- we're talking about one of the largest buildings in the entire city," Peters said.
"It's kind of a hard thing to swallow," said Peters, who fears that Hampden will lose its identity. "We moved to this neighborhood because we didn't want to live in Canton."
Joe Leatherman, a community activist, said the project's 400 units of housing make it too intensive. He and Peters also worry that in a weak housing market, the condos and town houses could sit empty.
Traffic concerns
Peters doesn't believe the neighborhood can handle the increase in traffic caused by redevelopment. Baltimore City recently installed reverse-angle parking spaces on several streets to ease the parking crunch, which Peters and Leatherman said would only get worse with redevelopment.
Frank Murphy, deputy chief of the traffic division of Baltimore's Department of Transportation, said his staff is still reviewing the traffic impact study.
But he believes the numbers in the study are accurate and that the streets around a redeveloped Rotunda would see an 8 percent increase in traffic.
E-mail staff writer Adam Bednar @ abednar@patuxent.com.