Baltimore Grows

The University of Maryland Medical Center has launched a major renovation and expansion of the shock trauma center to meet growing demand in the region.  The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center was the worlds first trauma center of its kind and continues to be the premier trauma center in the nation.  The project is expected to cost over 100 Million Dollars and will start in the spring.

According to the University of Maryland Website:

“The construction taking place at the University of Maryland Medical Center, located in Baltimore, consists of two projects.

The Trauma Critical Care and Emergency Medicine Services Expansion (Phase IV) will be a seven-story building with a full basement located on a 10,000 SF site. In total, 140,000 SF of new construction and 45,000 SF of renovation will be performed. This includes site work improvements, two new chillers and substations, relocation of an existing fuel tank, a new laboratory, nine new ORs, 18 new PACU beds, 64 new ICU beds, and a two-story penthouse with AHUs and substations.

The Shock Trauma Renewal Project (STC-R) consists of 67,000 SF of renovations and upgrades to the existing R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. These include fire alarm and sprinkler upgrades, a rework of existing corridor HVAC, renovation of existing ICUs, penthouse infrastructure upgrades, and a helipad replacement.”

It’s do or die time for the Baltimore Red Line.  Sides have been taken and battle lines have been drawn. Rumor has it that a decision will be made soon, perhaps by the end of the summer.

But let’s face the facts.  The Red Line proposal that includes both a combination of tunneling and surface rail offers Baltimore best chance of getting state and federal funding for a transportation project in YEARS (see proposed routing map below).  If we pass up on this, the likelihood of another public transit project coming this way is perhaps another 20 or 30 years off. 

There is currently no reliable public transportation between Canton and downtown, so most people drive. It’s sameful that a city the size of Baltimore doesn’t have a reliable transportation system, so it’s about time we start.

I realize that there is a small, but vocal group of opponents, that don’t want a surface line running along Boston Street or Route 40.  But let’s face it, Boston Street and Route 40 are already noisy and congested disasters.  The new Red Line, along with some proposed nice streetscaping, will serve to reduce and calm traffic.  The tunneling through downtown will keep the train from getting bogged down in traffic lights (one of my chief complaints about the existing north/south light rail). 

The Red Line is necessary for the continued growth of Baltimore City, and would increase the property values of those nearby (just try to get a cheap apartment near a DC Metro stop).

If you support the Red Line, make sure your voice is heard.  Things you can do to help:

Visit – http://www.gobaltimoreredline.com/

E-mail Senator Mikulski – http://mikulski.senate.gov/Contact/contact.cfm

E-mail Governor O’Malley – http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail/

E-mail Mayor Dixon – mayor@baltimorecity.gov

E-mail Councilman Kraft – james.kraft@baltimorecity.gov

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

For the past couple of years, many Baltimoreans had been lamenting the fact that no Baltimore City Chinese restaurant served Dim Sum.  The last place that served it, The Chinatown Cafe, stopped the practice about two years ago.  After that, the next closest place for Dim Sum was Jesse Wongs Hong Kong in Downtown Columbia, but that has reportedly closed as of December.  Chinatown Cafe has since closed as well, but in its place is a new Chinese Restaurant called Zhongshan that is bringing Dim Sum back to Baltimore (323 Park Ave (410) 223-1881).

Dim Sum basically consists of moderately priced small plates and is sometimes served on carts.  Many people consider Dim Sum menus to be more authentic than the typical Chinese food one might pick up at PF Changs or the corner carry-out.  Supposedly Zhongshan will serve Dim Sum every day from 7am to 3pm.  Lots of times people like to eat Dim Sum for brunch on weekends.  If you haven’t tried it before, I would recommend it…just a word of caution for those with some food aversions…many Dim Sum menus contain items like Chicken Feet and Honeycomb Beef Tripe. Not into Dim Sum? Zhongshan will also serve the standard Chinese fare that we’re all familiar with.

Click Here to see the Baltimore Sun Article

I haven’t make it over to Zhongshan yet, so anyone who has, please post your thoughts as a comment.

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

Fortunately this one won’t require a trip to Vietnam, this Vietnamese Restaurant is right here in Baltimore.  Mekong Delta Cafe, which recently opened up at 105 W Saratoga St just West of Mt. Vernon has been serving up some delicious food and making some very big waves with local foodies.

The Cafe itself is very small and simple and the decor and furnishings are modest.  It’s obvious that it is a family owned establishment.  There is no liquor license, so BYOB.  Because of the small size it’s probably not a good place to bring a large group.  Because it’s family operated, the service is friendly and gracious, but somewhat slow, so don’t come if you’re in a hurry.

The food, however, is unbelievable. I started with a summer roll that came with some type of peanut sauce.  The vegetables in the summer roll were incredibly fresh and the shrimp were plump and perfectly cooked.  The presentation was simple but beautiful.  As an entree, I had the crab and shrimp fried rice.  It had a real nice flavor and spice to it…not overpowering….delicious.  I think I ate every last kernel of rice on the plate.  My fellow diner had the Pho which was also reported to be delicious and fresh.  Best of all, the place is very affordable.  The bill came to $20.85 for two people, and for what you get, Mekong Delta offers a great bang for the buck.  Don’t forget to bring cash…credit cards are not accepted.

Mekong Delta Cafe

105 W Saratoga St
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 244-8677

Click Here to Read the Review in the Baltimore Sun

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

The MTA recently announced the addition of approximately 400 additional parking spaces at the West Baltimore MARC station in what might be the first step in a massive planned transit oriented redevelopment of the area.

Part of the plan uses some of the federal stimulus money to demolish a portion of US-40 to build the lots. The lots will be temporary until the West Baltimore redevelopment begins.

Follow this link to view the West Baltimore Master Plan: http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/planning/westBaltimoreMasterPlan.php

Follow this link to read the article in the Baltimore Business Journal: http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/02/23/daily53.html

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

It looks like 2009 might be the year for upscale casual restaurants in Baltimore.  It seems like a whole slew of them are in the works across the city, despite the current economic conditions.  Maybe they’re counting on the regulars at Charleston, Prime Rib, and Tio Pepe to cheapening up a little bit.  However, it’s probably more likely that that the upscale casual dining option is just becoming more popular.

The Maryland Daily Record recently reported on a bunch of these types of eateries opening on the West Side of the harbor, including Frank & Nic’s West End Grill, which just opened in the Zenith Apartment Building across from Oriole Park at Camden Yards.  Click below to read the article.

http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=10390&type=UTTM

The article also gave us some updates on two other restaurants that BaltimoreGrows has been tracking.  Sullivans Steakhouse  http://www.sullivansteakhouse.com/is set to open in February or March, with Kona Grille http://www.konagrill.com/ set to open in April.  Both will be located in the Verizon Building at Pratt and Light Streets. Supposedly, Redstone Grill  http://www.redstonegrill.com/ was going to set up shop in the same building, but may back out of the deal.

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

Despite the nation’s economic woes, there still seem to be some new restaurants coming to Baltimore.

The Baltimore Sun reported that the Bagby Building (along Fleet Street in Fells Point) will be the new home to a brick oven pizzeria and a new American fusion bistro.  A Verizon Wireless store recently opened in the same building which also has room for two more restaurants.  There’s an area available for outdoor seating as well.

The Sun also reported that while Tsunami, the sushi restaurant on Central Avenue north of Harbor east, has closed, the owners plan to open a new restaurant in its place.  Supposedly the new restaurant will either be an Australian gastropub or a Mexican-Latino theme.  Tsunami’s sushi will now be available at its sister restaurant, Lemongrass, next door.

And the Baltimore Business Journal reported that an “upscale casual” eatery is planned for the Zenith Apartment building on the city’s West Side.  The publication also noted that the upscale italian chain “Vapiano” is scouting locations in Baltimore City.  Vapiano’s only other US locations are in the Washington DC area and Ft. Meyers Florida.

http://www.vapianointernational.com/

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

This week, the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Baltimore Sun both endorsed a Red Line Transit Project which is fiscally responsible and responsive to community concerns along the corridor.  The alignment, known as Alternative 4c, would be a Light Rail train beginning along I-70 near the Social Security Administration, tunnel under Cooks Lane, emerging on and following Edmondson Avenue and the old “Highway to Nowhere” to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.  At MLK, the alignment would tunnel under downtown along Lombard Street, connecting directly to the Metro at Charles Center, then continue in tunnel under Fleet/Aliceanna Streets through Fells Point.  The Red Line would emerge at Boston and Aliceanna and travel in the median of Boston Street to Brewer’s Hill/Canton Crossing, then follow old railroad right-of-way to Greektown/Highlandtown at Eastern Avenue and then to the Bayview Campus where it would meet a new MARC Station.  The proposal is estimated at $1.3 billion and is projected to carry 42,000 riders per day.

The Maryland Transit Administration will hold a series of hearings on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement beginning on November 6th through November 14th.  Strong public support for this alternative is needed to propel the project into the engineering and construction phases. Click here to comment on the Red Line DEIS.

You can also get project updates, view pictures of the recent transit tours to Phoenix, LA, Portland and Seattle, and following along on Twitter by visiting the City’s Red Line website www.gobaltimoreredline.com

First the developers at Marketplace at Fells point switched from Condos to Apartments.  Then, ArcWheeler, the developer of 10 Inner Harbor, started to look at the proportion of condos in their project.  Now, Lexington Square Partners is revisiting their approach to the huge “Superblock” project in Baltimore’s West Side. 

Call it a sign of the times, but it seems like everyone is thinking things over a little more and mulling over decisions carefully.  All in all, the overall scope and size of these projects has remained relatively consistant, but the components or proportion of uses in the “mixed use” has changed.  For instance, the Superblock project will be changing as follows:

Original plan, unveiled in April 2007
Apartments: 400 units in two 14-story towers
Shops: 300,000 square feet
Parking: 900 spaces

Plan presented recently to the BDC board
Apartments: 360 units in one 32-story tower and smaller buildings plus a 150 room hotel.
Shops: 152,000 square feet
Parking: 800 spaces

Click Here to read the article

While the number of apartment units and retail space has been decreased, the developers have added a hotel component… not a bad deal overall.  The taller building will also likely stand out some more, helping to anchor the “new” west side.

The big downside to these changes are the delays associated with them.  In most cases, changes like these require changes to the Planned Unit Development (PUD), which requires the developers to present the revised plan to community associations and city officials.  Tack on time for re-design, permitting, bidding, and so forth, the process could take 6 to 12 months.  At least we can be thankful that developers aren’t walking out on projects (at least not yet).

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

Yesterday’s article in the Baltimore Sun on the proposed Westport development was interesting.? It was a good article about the city’s push to include moderate & low income housing in the new project.? What I found funny was the accompanying artist rendering of the project? which features a Porsche, BMW (I think), Starbucks, Westport Bistro, and Whole Foods.? Perhaps the low-income residences are tucked just out of view around the corner.