MINUTES. Of the. Board of Directors. Of the. City of Baltimore Development Corporation

Transcription

1 MINUTES Of the Board of Directors Of the City of Baltimore Development Corporation The regular meeting of the Board of Directors (Board) of the City of Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) was held on Thursday, October 24, 2013, beginning at 7:40 a.m. at the Corporation s offices at 36 South Charles Street. Present at the meeting were Board members; Chair, Arnold Williams, Harry Black, Augie Chiasera, Clint Daly, Deborah Devan, Paul Graziano, Bert Hash, Sharon Pinder and Brian Tracey (via telephone). Staffs present were: Brenda McKenzie, President, Kim Clark, Executive Vice President, Jeff Pillas, Chief Financial Officer, Nancy Jordan-Howard, Chief Operating Officer, Karyn Riley, Chief of Staff, William Beckford, Darrell Doan, Terrance Hancock, Joann Logan, Kristen Mitchell, Chris Moyer, Larysa Salamacha, Gary Suskauer, Paul Taylor, John Thompson, Deborah Tillett, and Aisha Bigstaff (as Secretary). Others present were: Aziz Housseini, C. Jones Silfee III, Victor Tervalla and Bill Carlson, Legal Counsel. The meeting was called to order by Chair, Arnold Williams. I. Chairman s Comments by Arnold Williams as follows: Welcome to new Board member Augie Chiasera who replaced former Board member Woody Collins Open Meetings Act Compliance Board Opinion: Compliance Board reviewed a complaint filed against BDC regarding the closing of a portion of the prior BDC Board meeting on July 25, The meeting closed to discuss 2 businesses that were looking to expand/relocate in Baltimore City. The Compliance Board issued a written response stating that BDC violated the Open Meetings Act by not providing the topics to be discussed during the closed session and the reasons to exclude the public on the written statement. 1

2 The Compliance Board did find that BDC correctly identified the proper statue that allowed the meeting to be closed. The meeting was closed for 6 minutes of the 97 minutes of the 7/25/2013 Board meeting. Effective 10/1/2013 the Open Meetings Act was amended to require that the Board members be informed of any opinion that comes from the Compliance Board. Each Board member needs to acknowledge being informed of the complaint and the opinion from the Compliance Board. A copy of the Opinion was circulated to each Board member Chairman Williams stated that we are committed to complying with the Open Meetings Act. The open and closed session minutes for the July 25, 2013 Board meeting were approved as written. II. Business Retention and Oversight Committee Report was given by Larysa Salamacha as follows: The Business Retention & Expansion Committee met on October 15, ) Topics discussed: New format for Upcoming BRE Committee Meetings starting January Outreach to a variety of stakeholders in the community regarding Industry clusters and the trends happening in their particular Industry cluster. Outreach efforts continue to businesses with expiring leases and businesses now located in the expanded Enterprise Zone. Community outreach process for the Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan and the resources being pulled together to move the plan along. Retention and Attraction Activities III. Loan & Audit Committee Report was given by Jeff Pillas as follows: The Loan & Audit Committee met on October 7, Committee approved a loan for a local business Charm City Concierge, Inc. 2

3 IV. Project Review and Oversight Committee Report was given by Deborah Devan as follows: The Project Review & Oversight Committee met on October 15, Two projects were presented to the committee this month Palmer House/Devine Seafood & 416 N Howard Street, and 6001 East Lombard Street. Presentation on Palmer House/Devine Seafood & 416 N Howard Street John Thompson Staff recommends to the BDC Board to recommend to the Mayor entering into an Exclusive Negotiating Privilege (ENP) with Adam Hoffman and Gabe Bentovim, dba 329 N Eutaw St, LLC to negotiate a LDA for sale and redevelopment of 3 City-owned Properties ( N Eutaw St., 110 N Eutaw St., and 416 N Howards St.). BDC issued an RFP in February A single response was received from Hoffman and Bentovim. The project is located near Lexington Market which generates considerable pedestrian traffic. Redevelopment of the Property by Developer as a mixed-use Restaurant/Residential and Retail project. Conveyance of Fee Simple title within 12 months of the approval of the LDA by the Board of Estimates. The Properties will be financed as one Project. The Properties will be broken into two Projects. Project A being the Eutaw Street properties and Project B as the Howard Street property. Developer proposes for Project A the redevelopment of the former Palmer House Restaurant, a pair of 3 story- buildings, as a $1.4 M mixed-use project. The project will consist of six 2 bedroom apartments on levels two and three, and a 3,000 SF restaurant on street level. The project would begin construction in Jan/Feb 2014 and include a 15 month construction period. 3

4 Developer proposes to redevelop 416 N Howard Street, a 3 story building, as a mixed-use project. The project will consist of creating four 1 bedroom apartments on levels two and three, a single 1 bedroom apartment at rear of the street level and a 2, 000 SF retail store on street level. The project would begin once Project A is nearing completion in Jan/Feb 2015 and includes a 15 month construction period. This project would alleviate serious blight in the area. University of Maryland has been involved and agrees with the development proposal/plans of this project. Deborah Devan, Board member made a motion to approve recommendation, motion seconded and approved by all. Presentation on 6001 East Lombard Street Chris Moyer Staff recommends to the BDC Board to recommend to the Mayor amending the existing purchase option agreement for Emergent BioSolutions (the Developer ) to modify the terms of the Developer s Purchase Option negotiate a LDA for sale of 6001 East Lombard Street (the Expansion Parcel ). Developer has submitted a written request to BDC for an additional purchase price credit on the Expansion Parcel of $250k in exchange for a commitment of an additional 100 jobs to be generated by December 31, Emergent BioSolutions represents a growing BioTech cluster here in the City. Developer plans to exercise its option to purchase the Expansion Parcel to support their existing manufacturing operation on the adjacent parcel at 5901 E Lombard Street. The developer will build a parking lot on the Expansion parcel so that it can expand its existing 60,638 SF facility with a $50 million, 114, 362 SF expansion. The expansion will accommodate 100 jobs, in addition to the 100 jobs that the company committed to creating when purchasing the facility the Initial Parcel in These 200 jobs, to be added by 2020, will have an average salary of $90,000. Deborah Devan, Board member made a motion to approve recommendation, motion seconded and approved by all. 4

5 V. Advisory Item: 612 N Howard Street Darrell Doan 612 N Howard St. is a vacant City-owned property BDC entered into an ENP with 602 N Howard, LLC. 602 N Howard, LLC controls the private property on either side of 612 N Howard St. In August N Howard, LLC approached BDC about assigning the current ENP to a new Developer The AZ Group who is under contract with the private properties owned by 612 N Howard, LLC. BDC is advising the Board of an update to the ENP. BDC plans to assign the ENP to the new Developer The AZ Group headed by Principal Aziz Housseini. AZ Group seeks to develop a mixed-use primarily residential project similar to what the current ENP holder proposed. VI. Presidents Report was given by Brenda McKenzie as follows: We are excited about our tremendous growth and the numerous projects in the pipeline. Amazon will have its $212 million fulfillment center located here in the City. BDC Team has been very actively touching all parts of the City. BDC and the Mayor have visited some commercial corridors including Hampden. BDC will take part in the Cabinet in the Community Day which will be in District 2 October 28, We will be visiting local small businesses. Our Strategic Plan has gotten underway. Angelou Economics had been chosen as (the Consultant ) for the Strategic Plan after submitting a proposal for the RFP BDC issued in late April. The Consultant has begun its research and is conducting interviews. Clint Daly, Board member, will help BDC guide an Advisory Group for the Strategic Plan. Our BDC Internal Team working on the Strategic Plan is led by Larysa Salamacha and includes Kristen Mitchell, Gary Suskauer, as well as Tom Stosur and Jill Lemke from Dept. of Planning. The goal is to have the Strategic Plan done by end of March BDC is excited about the number of construction starts underway: Canton Crossing The Rotunda Shop Rite (Howard Park) Board was introduced to new BDC Chief of Staff Karyn Riley. Karyn comes to BDC from Visit Baltimore where she served as Director of Public Affairs. 5

6 Arnold Williams, Chairman of the Board made a motion to adjourn the meeting, motion seconded and approved. The meeting was adjourned at 8:52 a.m. 6