Cities that Sizzle

Nation's Restaurant News,  Jan, 2001  

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Some of the biggest players involved downtown are Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc., H&S Properties and The Cordish Co.

Struever Bros. is working to create a "digital harbor" by focusing on projects that are attracting technology-based companies to the area, according to company president Carl W. "Bill" Struever. To give technology businesses an incentive to move into the city, Struever has worked to provide a mix of restaurant, retail and business space at his properties, he says.

"Restaurants are the centerpiece of any campaign to rebuild our economy," Struever says, and they are needed to attract conventions, tourists and business people to Baltimore.

As a result of the efforts of developers such as Struever, many people who work for companies in the city also are choosing to live and socialize there, he says.

In Canton, The Can Co. is a Struever-developed complex consisting of retail, office and restaurant space. It features a number of restaurants including the upscale Atlantic, a family-style Italian restaurant, a casual Tex-Mex spot and a cafe.

A new project for Struever is Tide Point in the Locust Point area of Baltimore, located across the harbor from Fells Point. That redevelopment of a former Procter & Gamble plant is nearing completion, with some business tenants already at the site, and a number of restaurants planned.

"You've only seen half of what's going to happen in terms of development in the city," Struever adds. Companies such as Struever and Cordish are looking to develop another 10 million square feet of land in the harbor area over the next five years, he explains.

Perhaps the biggest development news in Baltimore in recent years has been Inner Harbor East, a 3-million-square-foot business, restaurant and retail project located between Fells Point and the city's Little Italy.

The owner of Inner Harbor East is H & S Properties, which is developing land throughout the harbor area, according to company vice president Michael Beatty. Approximately half of Inner Harbor East has been completed thus far, including a 200-room Courtyard Marriott, three restaurants and two office buildings, Beatty says.

The 750-room Marriott Waterfront hotel and ballroom should open on the site next month he says, with more retail, restaurant and office space on the way. Two restaurants slated to move onto the site are Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Roy's, a branch of the Pacific Rim concept by Hawaii's Roy Yamaguchi, as well as a Starbucks location. The prestigious Charleston restaurant is already open there.

Five new buildings will be breaking ground at Inner Harbor East in the spring. They include two apartment complexes, another hotel and a movie theater, Beatty says, and about a dozen new restaurants ranging from casual to high end.

The Cordish Co., in its harbor area initiatives, is responsible for the Power Plant, an Inner Harbor complex that is home to the ESPN Zone megasports bar-cafe, a Hard Rock Cafe and a Starbucks. Now the company is working on Power Plant Live, an entertainment district located east of Inner Harbor, according to Cordish Co. spokeswoman Alison Parker.