Grillfire!

While HoCo awaits the commencement of the redevelopment of Columbia Town Center, the action right now is just over the border in AA Co. In the planned community of Arundel Preserve, adjacent to the Arundel Mills Mall, another Town Center project that features 242 apartments and a 150 room full service hotel is nearing completion. Included in the project is a new restaurant called Grillfire. Grillfire is part of the George Martin Restaurant Group and is the first restaurant they’ve opened outside of New York. It opened at the end of last month.

Grillfire bills itself as a “contemporary upscale American Grill.” I’d put in the same category as The Stanford Grill in Columbia. Just before leaving for vacation we dropped in for dinner. I’ll take a pass on critiquing the food except to say that it shows promise. 

One of Mama Wordbones pet peeves with "upscale" restaurants are unlit candles on the table. Though the place was far from busy, neither our server nor the several manager types who passed by our table took notice of this small detail. This may seem like nitpicking but when you bill yourself as upscale, details matter.

We both agreed that to call it a work in progress and give it another chance another day.

In This Months Business Monthly

In the song “Singin’ the Dinosaur Blues,” Jerry Jeff Walker observes that “life is mostly attitude and timing.” When it comes to the future of Columbia’s Town Center the timing of the redevelopment legislation last spring could not have been better.

A little over a year, when the county council unanimously passed the Town Center enabling legislation in early February of 2010, some community activists argued that the timing for this was wrong. They openly questioned the wisdom of moving ahead with a “bankrupt developer.” The prudent thing to do, they argued, was to wait until the company had resolved their financial issues.

It’s hard to imagine how different things would have been if that attitude had prevailed. When the developer, General Growth Properties, emerged from bankruptcy last fall, it spun off part of its holdings into a new entity called the Howard Hughes Corporation. The immediate impact of that for Columbia was profound. Instead of one company controlling the bulk of the redevelopment land in Town Center there are now two, and they are competitors. More importantly, they are competitors that now have to adhere to a shared vision and plan. In other words, they have no choice but to work together for the common good.

In other words, Columbia dodged a bullet, big time. You can read this months column here.

Back In the Saddle

Tuesday evening, Mama Wordbones and I were in downtown Kennebunkport scouting out places for dinner. It was a cool New England evening and I was wearing a wind shirt from the Iron Bridge Wine Company.

“Excuse me,” a stranger on the street said, “Where did you get that shirt?”

It turns out that my fellow traveler was not only from HoCo, he was from Ellicott City. As they say, it’s a small world but I wouldn’t want to paint it.

It was good to get away but it was also somewhat comforting to run into someone from home when home is over four hundred miles south.

I’m back now and, though we had a nice time, it’s good to be home again in HoCo.

Did I miss anything?

Wine Bin Movie Nights Imperiled

The Wine Bin movie nights have run afoul of the law that prohibits the consumption of alcohol in the parking lot of a liquor store. One of the best features of the Saturday night movies in the Ellicott City stores has been the ability to enjoy a bottle of wine with the movie. Up until last Saturday they even provided wine glasses.

This past Saturday they substituted plastic. Though patrons still enjoyed the movie Moonstruck with vino, the specter of a possible bust by the HoCo Police hovered ominously in the background.

This could put a real crimp on all of The Wine Bins parking lot charity events including Yappy Hour.

 That would be a real shame. I can certainly understand the motivation that created this parking lot drinking restriction. The specter of die hard drunks taking their recently purchased libations and then sitting in the parking lot chugging it down something nobody wants to see. That being said, it would be a shame if this prohibition will also curtail events like movie nights and Yappy Hour that benefit loco charities.

The Resurrection of Rouse

Yesterday General Growth Properties announced that they are spinning off thirty of their “B” malls into a newly formed real estate investment trust called Rouse Properties. According to the company press release “the Company believes a spin-off of these malls will enhance shareholder value by enabling each entity to more effectively pursue a business strategy that is appropriate for its specific needs.’

In other words, they are dumping the dogs.

According to this story by Alby Gallun in Chicago Real Estate Daily, GGP “had been trying to sell many so-called Class B properties but said a spinoff will allow the company to divest the properties in a single transaction and give General Growth shareholders the opportunity to profit from Rouse's growth.”

It is somewhat ironic that few, if any of the malls in this REIT were actually developed by the former Rouse Company. None of the properties are located in Maryland.

Cool Choir

This video gave me a little cool relief on an otherwise hazy, hot,and humid day. If you like Enya’s song “Storms in Africa” you’ll love this. Enjoy.

I’m Outa Here

I’m going to take off for a few days. For the past two and a half years I have posted to this blog practically everyday. I’m overdue for a break.

I also haven’t gone away for a summer vacation in two years as I stayed home with our aging dogs. The dogs are gone now so I’m leaving too.

I’m not closing down completely. It is quite possible that I’ll put up a post here and there as I shift into vacation mode, but I am putting my normal routines aside, if only for a week.

That’s what summer is for after all.

Stay cool. See you in awhile

Don’t Toss That Melon Rind

In HoCo we have curbside recycling of metal, paper, plastic, and yard waste. This September, a test group of HoCo homeowners will also be able to recycle their melon rinds.

According to this story by Jessica Anderson in The Sun, about 5,000 households in Ellicott City and Elkridge will be able “to add banana peels, egg shells and even old pizza boxes to their recyclables, becoming one of the first East Coast localities to start a large-scale composting program.”

“The county will provide residents with a 35-gallon container that will be collected once a week, the same day as yard waste. The food scraps will be taken to Recycled Green in Woodbine, where they will be composted and sold as a soil nutrient.”

This is basically a defensive maneuver against the looming increase in the cost of hauling HoCo’s trash two hours south to King George, Virginia. The sweetheart deal that the county has with Waste Management only has two years left. An increase of over 60% is expected.

In other words we need to put less trash on the train or we’ll wind up paying more for trash removal than cable service.

Wegmans Setting Up Shop in Town Center

Earlier this week we learned from HowChow that Wegmans had named Wendy Webster as the General Manager of the Columbia store set to open a year from now. Today I learned that Wegmans has signed a one year lease for office space in Columbia Town Center. The Rochester mega grocer has subleased approximately 5,400 square feet in the Lakeside Building next to the Sheraton. They will be sharing the top floor of the building with the DARS Law Group.

The Cool Toy…For Now

It really doesn’t seem that long ago that HoCo loco middle schoolers were eagerly awaiting the debut of the Nintendo DSi XL. Peanut had the original DSi. She got it for Christmas in 2009. It was the uber toy for sixth graders back then.

By the time the new console hit the store shelves last May, she rarely mentioned it. I also noticed that her DSi was around as much anymore.

For her birthday this year she made no bones about what she wanted. She wanted an iPod Touch.

The fact is that she already had an iPod Touch. It was a first version (1.1.5).  Apple is now up to version five. The original just didn’t cut it for her anymore. She wanted Facetime.

“All the kids in school have them,” she informed me.

You really have to hand it to Apple. First they conquered the personal music market, now they are winning over the Nintendo generation.  It comes as no surprise that the company just reported a “record net quarterly profit of $7.31 billion.

This occurred while iPod sales actually declined by 20%.

“The Company sold 20.34 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 142 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.25 million iPads during the quarter, a 183 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.95 million Macs during the quarter, a 14 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7.54 million iPods, a 20 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.”

Apples good news is bad news for Nintendo. Their share of portable game software revenue dropped from 70% in 2009 to 57% in 2010. 

In the world of cool toys, Apple reigns as King.

The Cop in the Council Chambers

This month the security at HoCo County Council meetings was ratcheted up a notch when an armed HoCo police officer became a regular fixture at the proceedings. According to this story by Kellie Woodhouse in Explore Howard this move “was made at the recommendation of Police Chief William J. McMahon.”

“After moving into the renovated George Howard government building in August 2010, the County Council asked McMahon to review the security and safety of its meetings. Based on that analysis, McMahon suggested that an officer be present at public meetings.”

It’s a sad but prudent precaution given recent violent episodes involving public figures. Curiously though, one of the incidents cited as justification for this move was the shooting rampage by Clay Duke at a school board meeting in Panama City this past December. The chief told the reporter that “there are no plans to have an officer at school board meetings, although McMahon said "that's certainly something that I'd be open to."

One thing that may be helpful though. McMahons security review “also prompted the police department to train council staff on how to deal with agitated individuals.”

That training could be particularly helpful for the school board staff.

With all these officers assigned to high schools, council meetings and now middle schools too, will there be fewer officers available for patrols?

Losing One to Jersey

HoCo is losing a biotech company that started here to New Jersey. Yesterday Celsion Corporation announced plans to move their corporate headquarters to Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

"With the advance of the HEAT Study, initiation of two Phase 2 studies and greater activity anticipated for preparation of the ThermoDox® NDA, we have outgrown our current location. Celsion's new headquarters sits in proximity to many of the world's top biopharmaceutical companies, research institutions, academic centers and investment sources, providing access to this deep resource pool at a transformative stage in our development," said Michael H. Tardugno, Celsion's President and Chief Executive Officer.”

Apparently they were also enticed by some economic incentives from the State of New Jersey.

This is a real loss for the HoCo biotech community. Celsion grew out of Chueng Labs which started in 1982 in the Rivers Corporate Park in Columbia. On the other hand, it is unlikely to have a big impact on the HoCo commercial vacancy rate. The new headquarters will be just less than 11,000 square feet.

Precious Stones

While it certainly doesn’t compare with Carmeggedon, the closing of College Avenue in Ellicott City is still a pain in the axle for those who live in the area. The worst part is that it won’t reopen again for a couple of months.

Today I stopped by the work site to see what it was that could possibly take two months to fix. I found out that the culprit is 800 feet of retaining wall that failed.

Now you may wonder, as I did, how on earth it could take two months to replace 800 feet of retaining wall.

“It’s the historic district,” the foreman told me.

That makes it a historic retaining wall. Each stone from the wall had to be preserved so that they can be put back in their original space.

It’s seems a bit of overkill for a wall that few are ever likely to see.

Farm 2 Table

Today is the first day of HoCo Farm 2 Table Restaurant Weeks. Twenty three HoCo loco restaurants are participating with specially priced dishes that include locally sourced ingredients.

HoCo Tourism invited Paul Skalny and I to repeat our restaurant week shtick with the owners of a couple of the restaurants. This time around we spent time with Chad Medina  at Kelsey’s Restaurant in Ellicott City and with Howard Lasky at the Town Grill in Lisbon as they talked about their HoCo loco dishes.  

You can find a complete list of the participating restaurants here.

All Pow and No Wow

Yesterday Peanut and I rode out to the HoCo Fairgrounds to take in the Native American Pow Wow. It was the first time we had attended this “American Indian Show and Festival.”

It will likely be our last time as well.

The ten dollar admission fee lets you browse through booths selling a variety of Native American stuff, much of which was made somewhere in Asia. There as entertainment of course but I can only sit and listen to a guy blowing mind numbing notes on a flute for so long.

We also sampled some of the supposedly Native American food which included “Indian Tacos” and “curley fries.” Neither of these was impressive.

It was kind of cool however to peek into the now empty animal exhibit buildings and realize that in just two short weeks the place will be buzzing with activity as the 66^th Annual HoCo County Fair gets underway.

Placing Blame

Recently, when a commenter to this post accused me of being a racist, a friend asked how I felt about it. I responded that I always consider the source before giving such comments any weight. Besides I told her, “I’ve been called worse. I’ve even been called a Democrat.”

I mention this since my next statement is likely to invoke of chorus of responses dismissing me as nothing more (or less) of being a left leaning partisan hack. If the United States of America goes into default for the first time in the history of this great nation, I will lay the primary blame at the feet of the Republican Party.

I also understand that the Democrats share some of the responsibility for this mess. The true negotiations and positions of the two parties are not always presented accurately in the media. There are subtleties, intentionally vague statements and nuances in every negotiation between the protagonists. Accusations of misleading intentions and a rehash of history of past transgressions are a natural byproduct of this well practiced political doublespeak.

Still, these are all skilled politicians who should know better. For the most part, they didn’t make a jump directly from school board to Congress. They all understand the importance of maintaining a balance between getting reelected with the concept of serving the greater good. That isn’t always easy to do when the going gets tough. While it may play well in papers and with the radical fringe when you walk away from negotiations with the president twice it can hardly be considered working for the greater good of the country.

Oh sure, I realize that some truly believe that the government needs to be brought to its knees in order to save it from itself. That however, is simply being irresponsible. While it may accomplish the goal of solving the deficit crisis in the long term it comes with a high price tag of economic pain in the short term, just when the country can ill afford it. With unemployment still in the double digits in at least seven states this is hardly the time for pushing the government into a default of its financial obligations.

You can call me what you will for placing the blame for the budget impasse on the GOP, just please don’t call me a Democrat.

Hydrate!

Even though we water the impatiens every evening, yesterday, when I got home around five, they were gasping for more water.

 Fortunately, after about an hour of getting their much needed drink, these bad boys perked right back up.

Humans are no different. With the heat index likely to climb into the triple digits again today, any outside adventures should include water.

Bifurcated Elkridge

HoCo loco blogger TJ Mayotte recently wrote a column for Elkridge Patch where he lamented how I-95 divides his community.

“Our sense of community should not be split by a mere highway, and we should not allow our self-perception (or deception) to create a town divided. There are many outside forces working against a solidified Elkridge; we should not be one of them. Our elected officials represent portions of our town, none the whole, dividing their attention with other communities. Major roads run against us, and the sway of our neighbors (Columbia, Ellicott City, and Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties) seeks to pull us apart.”

And yet that is almost certainly the reality on the ground. Even the state sees it as such. In the most recent “Brief Economic Facts” for HoCo prepared by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the Maryland Department of Planning separated Ilchester from Elkridge, showing Elkridge as having a population of 15,593 and Ilchester with 23,476.

I believe many folks living in “Ilchester” feel more aligned with Ellicott City than with Elkridge. Market researchers have long acknowledged that major barriers like rivers and highways create both real and perceived separation in communities. Even in Columbia there are those who feel the difference between the east and west sides of Route 29.

TJ thinks this house divided is unhealthy for Elkridge.

“Secession is not an option. Upper, Lower, Harwood Park or Rockburn, we are one community with shared concerns. We would do well to remember that.”

He faces an uphill battle with this notion. I am not convinced that the east side of I-95 shares the same concerns with the west side.

Troy Park Parking

The proposed Troy Park Tennis & Sports Center is struggling to come out of the ground. Though the Howard County Tennis Partners have negotiated a 40 year lease with the county for 14 acres of land in the Troy Hill Park in Elkridge, they still need to raise $44 million in order to build the complex. According to this story by Kellie Woodhouse in Explore Howard, “the complex will include 18 outdoor and 12 indoor courts, an 8,000-seat multi-sport stadium — the 10th largest tennis-specific venue in the country…”

If they are ultimately successful in raising the money and bringing major tennis events to HoCo there is some question as to where people will park. The site plan for the complex shows only 183 parking spaces.

In fairness, Art Tollick, the president of Howard County Tennis Partners, told me that he anticipates using the parks ball fields for temporary parking during major events. Still, that won’t be enough so he has also approached the businesses in the Troy Hill Commerce Park to use their parking lots too. The problem here is that the two closest buildings to the park on Mansion Lane are leased by government agencies with secured parking that would not be available to the tennis park under any circumstances.

Of course parking is probably the least of his worries right now.

The Sun Shines on 317am.net

HoCo loco arts blogger, George Clack, was featured in this story by Janene Holzberg in The Sun today. The Columbia resident is the co-author of 317am.net with longtime colleague Steve Altman. He also teaches a course at HCC entitled “So You Want to Blog.”

I liked what he had to say about blogging too.

"The most fundamental reason why I blog is to find out what I'm thinking," he said. "And that exercise forces my mind to work at a higher level."

Nicely put.