Space institute among newly named tenants at Rotunda

New tenants coming to the redeveloped Rotunda shopping mall and apartment complex in Roland Park range from a pet store and a kebob restaurant to the Space Telescope Science Institute, which tells the famed Hubble telescope what to explore in outer space.

Last year, Hekemian & Co., owner of the Rotunda, announced that the mall would be anchored by a 17,000-square-foot MOM's Organic Market, which is scheduled to open this September, and Cobb Theaters' 35,000-square-foot CineBistro, a multiplex cinema with upscale dining. The theater is scheduled to open in spring 2016.

On Monday, April 7, Chris Bell, Hekemian senior vice president for development, announced several additional retail tenants, all chain stores, which have signed leases at the Rotunda. They include a Pet Valu store next to MOM's; a Moby Dick's House of Kabob restaurant; Massage Envy; Bella Beach, a salon and day spa; and Floyd's 99, a chain barbershop that Bell described as having "a funky vibe." He said it takes its name from Floyd the barber on the old TV series, "The Andy Griffith Show." The Floyd's 99 website calls it "the original rock 'n' roll barbershop for men and women."

Hekemian is also negotiating to bring in a fitness center that would lease 15,000 square feet of space, and a national coffee chain store, Bell said. He would not name those businesses, because no leases have been signed.

The only remaining retail tenant from before redevelopment began is a Rite Aid store, which is considering expanding within the mall, Bell said.

The redeveloped Rotunda, previously limited to retail and offices, will now also include a residential component of 379 apartments, to be called The Icon at the Rotunda, as well as a central "Town Square" plaza for the mall complex and 1,200 parking spaces about 300 surface spaces and the rest in two garages. The apartment building will have a courtyard, where Bell said residents will be able to grill out and watch TV, among other amenities. There will also be a resort-style pool, he said.

Construction of the redevelopment project as a whole is expected to be finished by the end of this year, Bell said. The first apartment tenants are expected to move in this summer. Hekemian already has an unofficial waiting list of people who have expressed interest in living there, he said.

Hekemian anticipates a mix of residential tenants, including Hopkins students, empty nesters and young professionals, and a mix of chain retail stores that gives them and north Baltimoreans in general "more choices, closer to home," Bell said.

"I think this part of Baltimore has been underserved with good retail," he said.

Rotunda as icon

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Space institute among newly named tenants at Rotunda