South Baltimore Business Roundup

Elvis Closes, Brendali to Open

Tex Mex/Mexican restaurant Elvis on Light St. went under new management in June and now seven months later the restaurant has closed. A new sign at the entrance reads “Brendali Italian Ristorante Coming Soon.”

On a personal note, I have been dying for a classic order-at-the-counter Italian restaurant in South Baltimore ever since I came to the area many years ago. This area has some fabulous food and great takes on Italian, but nothing I would categorize as classic. As a member of the Verderamo family, I can’t help but want some chicken parm and spaghetti and meatballs from time to time. So though it is sad to see Elvis go, the thought of Italian in Federal Hill is very exciting!

More Development for Locust Point

In the first ten days of 2013 we’ve seen Key’s Overlook and 40 E. Randall get underway and heard about plans for the long-vacant Raffel Building. The brisk real estate pace continues as the Baltimore Business Journal and Baltimore Sun are reporting that the Phillips Headquarters at 1215 E. Fort Ave., once the home of a Coca-Cola facility, has been sold to Mark Sapperstein of 28 Walker, the developer of adjacent McHenry Row.

The property features two office-style buildings facing Fort Ave. and a very large space at the rear of the property with loading docks, which are no longer in use, and a large parking lot. From the Baltimore Sun article:

Under Armour, which currently leases the first floor of the Phillips headquarters building, is planning to add a second floor to its current footprint at the “Building 1” East Fort Avenue site, Rosenthal said (Abraham Rosenthal, a 28 Walker Partner).

Building 2, a cold storage warehouse, will be reconfigured, Rosenthal said, declining to specify timing.

“We know we’re going to do some offices and we think we’re going to do some apartments but we have not made a definite decision on that,” he said.

SouthBMore.com will provide updates as more plans are revealed for the property.

UA Inks Deal with Notre Dame Athletics

The Baltimore Business Journal is reporting that Locust Point’s Under Armour has inked a deal with Notre Dame University to outfit their athletic program. Under Armour has uniform deals with several international soccer teams and universities including the University of Maryland, but this would clearly be the most high profile contract in Under Armour’s history.

Love them or hate them, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is one of the biggest brands in American sports with a fan base around the world.

New Business for Pigtown Main Street

Pigtown Main Street is steadily seeing a lot of once-vacant properties along Washington Blvd. occupied by new businesses. The Washington Blvd. Injury Center will be opening at 756 Washington Blvd. in a property once eyed for a club called Ambrosia. The sign reads “Car Accidents – Worker’s Comp – Chiropractic Care.”

uberX Lowers Its Rates

2013 was the year of new transportation options in Charm City as Uber, uberX and Lyft came to town. Now uberX is announcing they are lowering their prices by 6%.

uberX said that now, for example,  a ride from Federal Hill to Canton will cost about $10 and a ride from Charles Village to BWI Airport will cost about $26.

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.