Geppi's Entertainment Museum, state of Maryland ensnarled in rent

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Sep 30, 2008 by Liz Farmer

Geppi's Entertainment Museum and the state agency that leases the museum its space have been embroiled in a rent dispute for more than a year, the agency's chairman said Monday.

"I think it'll all be resolved and take a couple more days," said Frederick W. Puddester of the Maryland Stadium Authority. "We've been having an ongoing discussion and I don't foresee [a shutdown of the museum] happening. Steve Geppi is committed to making this project work."

Puddester would not say exactly how long the dispute had been going on, or if founder Stephen A. Geppi had simply missed rent payments or was not paying rent at all out of protest. But he did say the rent became an issue when the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, the tenant in Camden Station below Geppi's, had its rent payments reduced in June 2007 because the nonprofit was struggling to make ends meet due to unexpectedly low admissions revenue.

At that time, the stadium authority voted to forgive the museum its $444,274 in back rent and also lowered its monthly rent from about $32,200 to $10,300, which Puddester said approximately covers the building's operating expenses. The museum, which received partial funding from the state, opened in 2005.

Geppi, CEO of Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. in Timonium and publisher of Baltimore Magazine, opened his for-profit museum in September 2006 and, according to reports at the time, pays about $29,000 per month in rent. His privately funded venture would be unlikely to receive aid similar to that extended to the nonprofit sports museum.

"We would look at those two things differently," Puddester said. "In the case of Sports Legends, we looked at the state investment in that from both an operating and a capital standpoint. We were hoping to protect the state's investment."

Geppi did not return messages Monday requesting comment.

The dispute is not the first time the stadium authority has found itself at odds over missed rent payments. Last October the agency agreed in a settlement with the Orioles to drop a disputed claim for $1.5 million in past rent owed by the team. The Orioles pay rent based on a percentage of revenues, including advertising, and that disagreement centered on how much the team was making from its stadium ads.

Puddester said at the time he decided to settle with the team rather than face an uncertain arbitration case on the back rent issue.

Geppi's, like the Sports Legends Museum, has struggled with lower- than-projected gate revenues because of declining attendance at adjacent Camden Yards and the new Hilton Convention Center Hotel's construction zone just outside the doors.

But -- despite another disappointing season from the Orioles -- some see a light at the end of the tunnel with the Hilton's opening in August.

"We are anticipating as Hilton traffic builds up it'll provide the Camden Yards area with a lot more walk-around traffic," said the Sports Legends' Executive Director Michael L. Gibbons. "I think it's going to be very good for us."