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Downtown Baltimore to Have a Bit of Monaco - The Hotel

The Baltimore Sun reported this morning that one of City Center's finest old buildings has been sold. The real estate closing was yesterday for the $20-million-dollar sale of the 1906 headquarters of B&O Railroad located on the corner of Charles and Baltimore Streets.

The historic building will reopen in 2009 with the top floors becoming a Monaco Hotel managed and operated by Kimpton. Washington DC has a fine Monaco by Kimpton. So does Chicago and San Francisco. There's a Monaco in Salt Lake City and Seattle.

It seems that it's Baltimore's turn to have a brand new (in a century-old, classic space) boutique hotel.

ARCWheeler, the Philadelphia-based developer, has marked the middle floors as office and the ground floors for retail and restaurant use. I'm liking this concept.

Kimpton's Monaco-branded hotels are smart, sassy, and requested by high profile performing artists visiting cities where Monaco Hotels are located.

ARCWheeler's website speaks highly of their purchase:

"This 225,000 SF, $55-million mixed-use development will reside in the regal Beaux-Arts style B&O Building in Baltimore which was designed by noted architect James Gamble Rogers."

They go on to say:

"The B&O building will represent the first of ARCWheeler's "10" boutique hotel brand, which will include hotel, office and retail space, and be located in buildings of grandeur in prime locations. This historic 13-story building, built in 1906 as the headquarters for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, includes marble floors and staircases, cobalt-blue stained glass windows and high vaulted ceilings."

It's also promised that the developer will return the huge marble lobby, with dual staircases, to it's origional 1906 glory.

Tonight. Graffiti in Little Italy.

Barring the outside chance of a summer downpour, folks will be bringing their lawn chairs and settling in for the latest installment of Little Italy's Open Air Movie Festival.

7PM at Stiles & High Streets.

My suggestion is to get there early, stake out your spot, and head over to Vacarro's on Albemarle Street for some amazing pastries and (my favorite) Italian Iced Tea...

...a large iced tea with scoops of their famous lemon ice added. It's the best thirst quencher I've ever had and if the heat and humidity hold up, you'll need it.

The tagline for the movie is "Where were you in '62?" and I know where I was. I'm not pleased about that part! And, I'm probably in good company. 

The Generosity of Urban Cellars: Sadly, UNAPPRECIATED!

When the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore invites you to an evening wine tasting, you mark your calendar.

When the Historic Charles Street Association invites you to the same event, you make it a MUST-ATTEND.

When Southern Management tucks a 4-color invite under your door... Well, you start picking out your wardrobe. At least that's what we did.

With cameras on our shoulders, Jacob and I headed out to enjoy the party in the newly configured Charles Center Plaza Park.

Where was the crowd? We saw folks from Downtown Partnership - their employees.

Where were the wine experts?

I asked a wine rep behind one of the serving tables (he was promoting a group of Australian and New Zealand wines) what made his Shiraz special. He said, "What? What are you asking"?

Yikes! Sell me on something.

The assembly of vintners was darn good. Over-all, their reps were not so good. Attendance was sadder than anything that I've seen in Baltimore's City Center. We must do better. We MUST support our downtown Baltimore partners... Each and everyone of them.

Baltimore's Trash Talk: Bags in Trees

There are some clever blogs originating from Charm City. The best of the bunch has to be BAGS IN TREES.

"Bagsintrees.com is a website dedicated to showcasing the beauty of the omnipresent plastic accessories that adorn the trees of Baltimore, MD."

Yes, that's what their About Section says. Their images are oddly captivating and the clever copy is a pleasure to read. I'm hoping that Brian Sacawa, the editor, and Charissa Costa, managing editor, will decide to include videos sometime soon. Think of the wind howling, snow blowing and a plastic bag puffed up, full of air, holding tightly to a branch. It'll be better than what's on Comcast.

Great Weather & Great Crowds for Baltimore's ArtScape 2007

With friends in tow, ArtScape turned out to be a day of fun within all the trappings of a traditional street fair. Photos of the event are posted on Baltimore21201.Com's Gallery Page. And, here's the direct link.

I hadn't been to ArtScape in quite a few years. With the annual event scheduled in the dog days of July, walking hot pavement and breathing what Frank Roylance at the Baltimore Sun calls "hot, gelatinous air" while smelling the smoke of pit beef mixed with the perfume of deep fried anything-you-can-imagine just isn't my cup of tea.

Yesterday's perfect weather actually made ArtScape's World-'O-Food smell darn good.

Alas, there wasn't a seat to be had in the tents for foodies - and I don't eat while walking. Jacob had a lemonade, Erin had a mammoth snowball, and Steve and I had a beer.

Once ArtScape pulls in a greater number of traditional artists (working in oil, acrylic, watercolor, bronze... artists offering original pieces) all will be right with the fair.