Month: May 2021

AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler

Parking lots without a single car in a once-favorite shopping center or empty storefronts along a strip of Severna Park shops are slightly unsettling. They mean businesses you may have liked are gone forever and the property owners are looking for new tenants.

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Change is inevitable and turnover has always been a feature of Severna Park’s retail scene but never has it seemed to move so slowly. The closure of businesses like the Food Lion supermarket (seen above) at 466 Ritchie Highway, A.C. Moore at Severna Park Marketplace and the service station at the corner of Ritchie Highway and Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard, to name a few, predate the COVID-19 pandemic and have been empty for more than a year.

During the same period, smaller retailers like the chocolate shop Coco Couture closed, leaving life in Severna Park a little less sweet. Following the holidays in December, 2019 candy maker Jessica Zaleskiwicz, (who ran the shop day-to-day with mother Laura Zeitz) decided to go in another direction. By then, she explained, more of their sales were coming from events than from the shop. Zaleskiwicz still makes a bit of chocolate now and then but she’s currently working elsewhere while finishing her bachelor’s degree.

The candy shop is in the former Howard Bank Square at 350 Ritchie Highway and has yet to find a tenant.

A stone’s throw away Howard Bank, for which the center was named, closed its doors too. The bank building looks unoccupied but the presence of cars out front may tell a different story.

Among several businesses swept away by the COVID pandemic was Paradigm Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails at Magothy Gateway Village. Across Ritchie Highway from that property, storefronts previously occupied by Yoga Works, BoHo Nation and We Rock the Spectrum kids gym sit empty.

“For Lease” signs are scattered throughout Severna Park – a situation Greater Severna Park and Arnold Chamber CEO Liz League has speculated about. She wonders if there is too much duplication of certain kinds of businesses and worries about commercial office space going unused.

“At a multi-chamber luncheon with Maryland Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, we learned that so many government employees are working remotely from home that there may not be a need to rent as much commercial office space,” League said.

Matt Wyble, who heads The Matt Wyble Team of Century 21, has long been a part of the Severna Park business scene. He speculates that several factors are eroding the ability of brick and mortar retail shops to compete.

“I don’t specialize in commercial real estate,” Wyble said. “However, my guess would be that the overall shift to eCommerce for retail shopping, in combination with the COVID quarantine restrictions hit neighborhood businesses hard.”

But the retail and commercial property picture in Severna Park may be brighter than it appears according to John A. Rosso of Annapolis-based Rosso Commercial Real Estate Services, LLC. As Rosso handles many of the properties mentioned above, he has a unique perspective.

He’s quick to point out that commercial real estate transactions in Anne Arundel County take much longer than residential transactions. The average commercial real estate transaction – say for someone wanting to lease the former Food Lion – could take as long as four to six months due to imperatives such as obtaining permits and completing construction.

New leases for empty commercial properties may be in the works, Rosso says, but there’s a lag before it becomes evident that they’ve been leased again “so the public may perceive that a property is unoccupied for longer than it actually is.”

He believes part of the former Food Lion property may be under lease to another supermarket but we could not confirm that.

Rosso said he’s been working on the service station property at the corner of Ritchie Highway and B&A Boulevard for six months and has a new business lined up but the transaction is still in the works.

Like League, Rosso thinks duplication in the market is a factor in the closure of some businesses. That may have been the case for another property he’s handling that’s next to the service station and previously housed the Choice One Urgent Care clinic.

At Magothy Gateway Village, Rosso is working on leasing the former Paradigm Sketch Kitchen that had earlier been Pascal’s Chophouse. He said Paradigm Sketch’s timing in re- branding from a pricey chophouse to a made-from-scratch restaurant with a nationally known chef was unfortunate as the pandemic hit within weeks of its opening. He feels the location shows promise and there’s a lot of activity from people interested in the space..

Rosso does not handle the former Howard Bank but believes, even though the space appears vacant, there are paying tenants.

“My understanding is that Howard Bank is currently involved in a merger/acquisition process but still pays rent on the building and has made the property available for sublease,” he said. “With two years left on the bank’s lease, subleasing is complicated because it’s a three-party transaction between landlord, tenant and sub-tenant…. and most companies prefer a longer lease.”

Several of the shops neighboring Howard Bank are primarily food related. According to Rosso, Anne Arundel County requires anyone serving or preparing food on premise to have a 1,000 gallon grease interceptor (that can cost up to $20,000), three-compartment sinks, and mechanical and HVAC capaciity. Even though the infrastructure is there for Coco Couture and the other businesses, it’s outdated by county standards making opening another food business costly.

The former Sun Trust Bank at Park Plaza was demolished recently due to a merger with BB&T Bank. Construction is now underway on a Popeye’s that will join an already crowded field of fast food restaurants in Park Plaza and other shopping centers.

“My understanding is that Popeye’s signed a lease up to 18 months ago before the pandemic to secure the location and has been paying rent,” Rosso said. “They’ve finally begun the construction phase.”

According to Rosso, there’s a lot of activity in the commercial real estate market currently but it’s very difficult for companies to find commercial properties to buy. Leasing is the primary option in Severna Park where there are now a lot of national chains like Noodles & Company, Mod Pizza, Chipotle, and Chic-fil-A. “We’re as busy as we’ve ever been,” he added.

There’s more good news involving the final contract Rosso’s handling – the location that housed Partners In Care’s Upscale Retail Boutique at 6 South Ritchie Highway before they moved to Festival at Pasadena.

“I’m representing a buyer for that property and we have it under contract,” he said. “The buyer is a local business wanting to expand their exposure. They should be settling in the next 30 days.”

Rosso’s comments indicate that some of the now empty storefronts may soon bustle with business. But with mixed signs in the local and national economy, it’s unclear whether all of the spaces will find new retailers.

Melody Wukitch, reading specialist and now bookstore owner, couldn’t be happier. On May 1, she opened Park Books & Literacy Lab at 555 Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard in Olde Severna Pak to the delight of the community. Nestled in a space next to Garry’s Grill and Savvy Consignment, the new shop has hundreds of books that appeal to a variety of age groups and interests. However the shop has much more to offer.

“Park Books is a traditional independent book store,” its proprietor said. “However, I’m a reading specialist by trade, working with students both within the educational system and privately, so I’ve integrated my literacy lab work into the bookstore.”

Moving into the main part of the shop, there’s a little bit of everything. There are young- adult fiction and adult fiction sections. There’s a special “Indie Next” section dedicated to fiction and non-fiction works favored by independent bookstores – books deemed likely to reach “bestseller” status.

There are Sci-Fi books and an excellent mystery/thriller section with books by best-selling authors like David Baldacci, John Sanford and Jack Carr. A sizable non-fiction section features books on health, humor, leadership, philosophy, and religion as well as autobiographies.

The bookstore also carries puzzles, games, jewelry and gifts made by local artisans. Particularly popular at the moment are handcrafted candles representing different Severna Park neighborhoods like Chartwell, Round Bay, Linstead or Cape Arthur. The candles are decorated with scenes from each community.

Interestingly, the Literacy Lab’s beginnings predate the bookshop by several months having started with informal sessions in November of 2020. By early in 2021, plans were underway to combine the two complimentary elements – reading lab and bookstore – into one cohesive small business.

“I launched the business in response to a critical need for a literacy/reading resource because so many families were reaching out to me,” Wukitch said. “I also felt it would be wonderful to have a bookstore – what better place for a child to learn reading. However, opening the shop was a scary proposition since many restaurants and retailers were failing due to the pandemic.”

Reasoning that Garry’s Grill was right next door and Kirsten’s Cakery and The Big Bean coffee shop a stone’s throw away, she dropped her original plan to include a coffee shop. Instead, she created an outside area with tables and chairs where customers could share a carry-out beverage or snack.

In one respect, Park Book & Literacy Lab opened at just the right time. With public schools closed for more than a year, quite a few children have fallen behind in developing their reading and comprehension skills.

Some children need help immediately. So the Literacy Lab has put some ‘Reading Recovery’ summer programming in place. For each grade level, there are four or six week sessions where parents can bring their child to meet with a certified reading specialist two or three times a week. The reading specialists assess each child, take a look at how they are reading to see where the gaps might be, and then work with them in a small group setting.

For such a recently opened establishment, Park Books is catching on quickly. Late afternoon Friday saw United States Naval Academy midshipmen Mitchell Vinzon, Maya Weiss and Dina Giles arrive for a visit with their favorite bookstore owner and to wander the stacks. Weiss and Giles, former first-year English students of Wukitch who loved her classes, think the shop is great.

Park Books and Literacy Lab is quite a boon for Olde Severna Park. No one can seem to remember if Severna Park has ever had a bookstore. You can check them out on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or by visiting their website at Home – Park Books & Literacy Lab (parkbooksliteracylab.com) .

AROUND THE PARK AGAIN By Sharon Lee Tegler

Looking into a sea of faces as he began his remarks during the dedication of St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal School’s new Student Learning Center on December 5, 2019, Jamey Hein felt the excitement of the students, parents, teachers, and members of the clergy gathered round him. The dedication represented the culmination of years of planning, fundraising and execution for all who made the building’s construction possible. For Hein the occasion represented one of the crowning achievements of his seven-year career as St. Martin’s Head of School.

Shortly after being hired in April 2014, the amiable young educator and Connecticut native had an opportunity to explore the campus and meet with his predecessor, Rev. Frank Sawyer. While there, he looked into living arrangements and attended one of the school’s Festive Field Party fundraisers where he was warmly welcomed.

In July, Hein and his family arrived from Ann Arbor, Michigan where he’d spent seven years as a division head at Greenhills School.

“When I arrived, the school looked and felt very different, in every way, from they way it looks and feels today, Hein said. “It had a sense of soul but had not been innovated or modernized in any way so it felt a bit old fashioned.”

“For a very long time, it had been run by St. Martin’s Church as a parish preschool but it evolved into an elementary school in the late 1990’s and continued it’s evolution by adding a middle school in 2008. As one board member put it, the school had good bones but was a fixer-upper.”

Hein’s main mission as Head of School was to encourage child-centered learning. He observed that this involved teachers moving from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side” as a way of allowing children’s voices and ideas to surface.

Almost immediately he instituted “Java With Jamey” gatherings to communicate his ideas to parents and get their feedback.

He mentioned his devotion to developing skill sets important for children’s futures – skills he considers keys to critical thinking like reading, writing and oral communication.

He also highlighted the significance of St. Martin’s acceptance into the Association of Independent Schools following a multiyear process to gain accreditation.

Parents, in turn, voiced desires that classes remain small and requested the school continue teaching cursive.

Meeting with parents, grandparents and supporters is an important part of how Hein brings them along with his ideas and innovations. He’s always been enthusiastic about meeting, greeting and speaking at events like the school’s annual Festive Field Party fundraisers.

From the outset of his seven-year journey, Hein realized his major concern was construction of a long dreamed of new learning center. But he considered that goal part of a larger equation.

“What I feel we’ve accomplished here is putting the school on an entirely new trajectory,” he said. “We’ve deepened its Episcopal identity, updated, modernized and advanced every facility, and by the end of summer, the renovation of the preschool will complete the renewal.”

An early indicator of new directions was a complete renovation of the playground and the creation of an iLab. The iLab project was launched with help from Norm Snyder, the grandfather of several St. Martin’s students and a major donor. Snyder had been the founder of Conquest, a computer technology company he later sold to Boeing.

Students helped raise $1,300 to build the lab by duct-taping their good-natured headmaster to a wall for $1 per piece of tape. They loved the lab. Who knew you could create a piano by wiring together half a dozen bananas or build a fully prosthetic hand using a 3-D printer?

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As chairman of the board of trustees, Snyder was at Hein’s side when St. Martin’s launched its major capital campaign for the learning center during the 2017 Field Party.

They also unveiled construction plans for the center – a 6,500 square foot facility that would house K-8 science and art classes and middle school core classes.

“There had been three different efforts at designing a building for the middle school but, when I arrived here, we scaled it back. We realized that we’d not done this before and needed to be realistic with our goals, aspirations and funding,” Hein said.

By Thanksgiving of 2018, construction was well along under the supervision of project manager Lynda Snyder. As usual, the school’s annual Children’s Thanksgiving Feast took place with food and decorations prepared by students from each grade. Always a good sport, Hein presided over the feast wearing a turkey on his head. Students from kindergarten and fourth grade offered prayers of thanksgiving and then were led by eighth-grade “buddies” to a buffet served by parent volunteers.

The end of 2019 saw the completion of the middle school construction and an impressive dedication ceremony. It began with a religious service in St. Martin’s Church followed by a procession to the learning center, a ribbon cutting by the entrance, and a blessing by The Right Reverend Eugene Taylor Sutton, 14th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Students couldn’t wait to show off their new classrooms to the parents and church members in attendance. Having just moved from their old mobile classrooms, they were eager to settle in and appreciate their new surroundings.

Visitors filing through the building that afternoon couldn’t help being impressed by science labs, art rooms and new classrooms.

Not only was the Student Learning Center open and accommodating but the school, in general, had been upgraded. The once-meager administrative staff was augmented by hiring true professionals for positions in admissions, finance, and marketing and development to provide a solid structure moving forward. There was a marked improvement in teacher salaries and an effort to broaden the curriculum to include more diversity.

St. Martin’s was becoming known across a wider geographical area, in part due to membership in the Mid-Atlantic Episcopal School Association of which Hein is president.

On dedication day, however, he had no idea that the biggest challenge of his tenure as Head of School still lay ahead. Following school closures and a switch to remote learning from late March through June of 2020, St. Martin’s board of trustees’ met through the summer. They made a decision to fully reopen the campus in September of 2020 for in-person learning (while public schools remained closed). It fell to Hein to implement the decision.

Bringing the students back to school went smoothly and was extremely successful. With COVID guidelines in place, children wearing masks, and the teachers wholeheartedly onboard, there were no problems with the exception of a few positive tests. Classes were quickly back to normal five days a week.

” It was completely worth it,” Hein said. “One unexpected silver lining of the COVID pandemic was enrollment. A year ago, we were projecting an enrollment of 160 students. Instead, because of our ability to stay open, we now have an enrollment of 230 and we’ll start next fall with an enrollments of 280 students. We hope we can keep all those students in our school family and we’re now second-guessing if we should have made the learning center bigger after all.”

He added that COVID innovations , the opening of the learning center, and the ongoing renovations and educational upgrades combined to transform the school. He observed that Internet technology has become an integrated part of learning – a part he believes the school has used wisely.

Hein’s time as Head of School for St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal School will come to a close at the end of June. He’ll be moving on to become Interim Head of School of The Calverton School in Huntingtown, Calvert County – a Pre-K through 12th grade International Baccalaureate School with a student body of 300. Founded in the 1950’s, Calverton School’s 150 acre campus is a busy one and includes a boarding facility for some of it’s international students.

Charles Sachs, Hein’s successor as Interim Head of School will not arrive until July. Meantime, Hein will continue as before and find time to do many more of his much-loved readings with the smaller children.

AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler

Annuals were flying off the shelves at local garden centers this week and vegetable transplants even more so. While longtime gardeners spent time searching for the year’s newest and most promising species, first timers needed plants, soils, containers and tools and were full of questions. Anne Arundel County Farm, Lawn and Garden Center, owner Cory Stephens and his energetic staff welcomed them all and stood ready to help and advise. They even helped one regular customer locate a rare breed of Japanese eggplant he wanted to try.

According to Stephens, business is booming due to the surge in gardening that’s taken place during the COVID pandemic lock downs.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that, over the last two years, because of COVID, folks needed something to do. In addition to home improvement projects, they discovered how easy gardening is,” Stephens said.

“Many people are novices and we’re good at working with inexperienced gardeners,” he added. “We have wonderful handouts that explain everything from planning your plot to what to plant, how deep to plant it, proper spacing and so forth. We have a tremendous selection of seeds and transplants that are easy for them to try.”

Having moved from its original location in Glen Burnie in 2017, AA Co. Farm, Lawn and Garden Center has 94 years of experience advising and supplying farmers and gardeners from across a wide area. Stephens and staff emphasize that soil and soil amendments are a priority for novices because Anne Arundel County’s acidic mix of sands and clay is challenging .

From signs for Bulk LeafGro compost along the fences to bags of potting mixes, top soils, raised bed mixes and mulches by the sheds, it’s clear that soil improvement is a goal that can be met.

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Stephens notes that the garden center does soil testing which takes just two minutes and is critical to getting a proper PH balance and essential nutrients for good growth.

The garden center’s “Welcome to Potsville” section has everything beginners need to get started from pots and watering cans to long handled tools, trowels, trellises and tomato cages.

Wending one’s way past “Berry Land” with its strawberry plants, raspberry vines and blueberry bushes, one found row upon row of vegetable transplants, perennials and annuals along with a greenhouse for newly started plants and hanging baskets.

Store manager Heidi Tyler and department manager Steph Stowell both commented that Homestead’s buyers are working double time to keep up with heavy demand for plants and gardening supplies. The COVID pandemic has inspired a new class of novice gardeners eager to try their hand.

“There are many new people coming in who want to start vegetable gardens,” Stowell said. A lot of them want to start from seed. Others, who haven’t gardened in the past, want to buy easy annuals like petunias or impatiens. Some, who gardened in the past but didn’t have time, are picking it back up again.”

Tyler said it’s been exciting to see such a high volume of new gardeners and it’s obviously good for business.

“Following last year’s huge surge in people buying ‘edibles’, they remain exceedingly popular. But this year gardeners are adding more decorative annuals and perennials to the edibles,” she said. “The pollinator plants and flowers are popular too.”

Tyler and Stowell mentioned that Homestead has been educating customers on the benefits of Maryland natives. In fact, the Severna Park store has just added a “Native Habitat” of plants in one corner at the far end of the patio.

“The plants and flowers within the habitat are natives that are true to our specific ecosystem,” Tyler said. “There are pollinator plants like coreopsis, yarrow, lavender and cone flowers along with ground covers and small trees and shrubs that do well here and attract bees and butterflies. There are even plants that appeal to hummingbirds. All that’s needed is for our signage to be finished.”

A few of the great looking bird feeders displayed inside the store will eventually be moved outdoors to the habitat.

A great hit with new gardeners this year were hardy cold weather vegetable transplants like organic “Dinosaur Kale”, Red Kale and fast-growing leaf lettuces.

Customers also shopped for seeds from racks located inside the store. Varieties of direct sow radishes sold well – particularly those slated to mature in 23 days.

Along with tomatoes, the most popular plant with male gardeners was peppers, particularly the hotter varieties like Hungarian Hot Wax or Premium Habaneros.

Both peppers and tomatoes are easy to grow but, for those having problems, the Homestead staff stands ready to help.

Gardeners interested in decorative plants to enhance the beauty of their lawns or porches will find a wide selection to choose from. Begonias, in a lovely shade of peach, have captured many shoppers fancy.

Both inside and outside the store are hundreds of ornamental ceramic or clay pots in which to plant them.

Severna Park resident Lee Lewis, who is familiar with both AA Co. Farm, Lawn and Garden and Homestead as well as Gary’s Garden Center on Ritchie Highway at Cypress Creek Road, is aware how popular gardening has become and understands why. She, too, has plenty of time to garden. For now, she’s mostly raising perennials and was so proud of the pretty Irises blooming in her yard that she snapped a photo for a social media post. She’s always had fun checking out the garden centers for new ideas.