Maryland public company cuts ribbon on new HQ

Good morning Baltimore. It's Thursday.

As many of you jet off for the holidays, be sure to slow down on I-83 — if not for your own safety, then to avoid being called out by the Baltimore City Department of Transportation's Twitter account.

The DOT account has been going after users on X.com (the platform formerly known as Twitter) for complaining about speed cameras and bike lanes. Seriously, take a minute to scroll, and please drive safe. Your friends at BBJ HQ care about you!

Now for the news.

Maryland public company cuts ribbon on new HQ

Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH) celebrated the opening of its new corporate headquarters in North Bethesda this week. The 100,000-square-foot office is in the Pike & Rose development and will hold almost 400 workers, according to a press release from Gov. Wes Moore’s office. The move comes soon after the corporation announced 85 layoffs at its headquarters. Choice Hotels is currently ramping up efforts in its attempted hostile takeover of its rival Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: WH).

Chipotle to open drive-thru pickup location in Dundalk

Chipotle Mexican Grill is coming to Dundalk with a new drive-thru format pioneered in other cities throughout the country. The lane for picking up digital orders, called Chipotlane, will be the first of its kind in Baltimore County at 7545 Holabird Ave. The chain opened a store with the same layout in Columbia in October. The store is hiring at the Dundalk location and most stores employ 25 workers, according to a press release. The location will be open daily from 10:45 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Here are the 60+ Baltimore-area restaurants that opened this year

The restaurant business is a fickle one, and it can be difficult to keep track of all the comings and goings — unless you're BBJ reporter Morgan Simpson. Over 60 locally owned restaurants and drink-focused spots opened in Greater Baltimore this year, with more already on the horizon for 2024, and we have them all for you this morning. Many of the new spots come from new restaurant owners trying their luck in the industry for the first time, while others come from restaurant veterans who are expanding their concepts or adding new ventures to the mix. Check out the full list (sans national chains) and add a few to your New Year's list.

National Harbor developer enters Harford County with $51.3M deal

The developer behind National Harbor has entered Harford County with the purchase of a 500,400-square-foot industrial warehouse for $51.3 million, our Melody Simmons reports. Peterson Cos. acquired the Aberdeen Logistics Center on Dec. 14. The complex is located just off Route 40 in the busy Harford County industrial market and is fully leased to Fanatics as the sports merchandising company's sole mid-Atlantic fulfillment center. Peterson officials said Wednesday the deal was the Fairfax, Virginia-based firm's first in Harford County. Read more on why the firm took the plunge into the Harford industrial market.

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Southwest pilots union nears new contract with airline

After three years of negotiations, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association has announced it's nearing a new contract. The Banner reports that the union's board of directors has "agreed in principle" to a contract that would increase pilot pay by 29% right away and a total of 50% over the next five years. The potential deal would also increase retirement funds and disability insurance and alter the airline's pilot scheduling system. The deal will be put to a vote starting Jan. 8, meaning a deal could be officially reached by the end of that month, per the Banner. If ratified, the contract would avert a strike of the airline's 10,000 or so pilots, some of whom set up a strike center in Columbia in November.

Architecture firm with Baltimore office wins national award

Quinn Evans, a national architecture firm that has worked on prominent Baltimore projects, has been awarded this year’s Architecture Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects. The firm announced Wednesday that it received the AIA’s “highest honor” thanks in part to its work in creating sustainable features in historic buildings. The firm is working on the mixed-use development at Penn Station and has been involved with Clipper Mill, the Lion Brothers Building, Baltimore Center Stage, the Baltimore Museum of Art and more. Quinn Evans’ other offices are in D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Madison, Wisconsin and Ann Arbor and Detroit in Michigan.

State collected $12M in cannabis tax revenue in first quarter of sales, comptroller says

Maryland collected $12 million in tax revenue from the first quarter of cannabis sales, Comptroller Brooke Lierman announced Wednesday. The proceeds from the 9% sales tax on adult-use cannabis products will be distributed across different funds for public use. According to the announcement, 35% will go toward communities that were negatively impacted by cannabis laws prior to legalization, 5% will go to county governments, 5% to a public health fund, 5% to support small, minority and women-owned cannabis businesses and the remaining 50% to the state's general fund. The Maryland Cannabis Administration recently closed the initial application round for new cannabis business licenses.

Vinegar plant shuts down Baltimore facility amid environmental lawsuits

Fleischmann's Vinegar has shut down its Baltimore production plant, the Sun reports. The company, owned by the Irish firm Kerry Group, is currently facing lawsuits over allegations that it polluted the Jones Falls stream in North Baltimore. The state announced Wednesday that it was running environmental tests on the stream with green dye, and Kerry Group told the Sun that it had stopped producing vinegar at its Baltimore plant last week and will "transfer production from Baltimore to other facilities." The company did not respond to the Sun's inquiries about potential layoffs and has not filed layoff notifications through the state's tracker at the time of publication.

Questions or comments about this newsletter? Email BBJ Digital Producer Joe Ilardi at [email protected].