Business

The first major bill outlining what the recreational cannabis market in Maryland might look like was introduced in the General Assembly on Friday. The 88-page bill goes into detail about most elements of the new legal market, from licensing to the tax structure. Here are five things business owners should know about the proposal, which is set for a hearing in the House of Delegates on Feb. 17. The House version of the bill, House Bill 556, was sponsored by Dels. C.T. Wilson, D-Charles County, and Vanessa Atterbeary, D-Howard County. An identical bill was cross-filed in the senate as Senate Bill 516, which is sponsored by Sens. Brian Feldman, D-Montgomery, and Antonio Hayes, D-Baltimore.

The curtain is about to go up on a new show for the long-abandoned Mayfair Theatre, a once glamorous North Howard Street venue that closed in 1986. With its three back walls since demolished and its glorious beaux-arts facade the sole reminder of far better days, it looks like a relic of the World War II bombing of Berlin. But that’s about to change. An ambitious young developer, Yonah Zahler, who hails from Toronto and has lived in Baltimore for 19 years, and his company, Zahlco Development, is the inspiration behind a $25 million project that will be named Mayfair Place. It will be a mixed-use project of 95 residential units, commercial space and parking.

The Pandora jewelry company is planning to open a new store in Harbor East, the Harbor East Management Group announced Friday. The approximately 2,300-square-feet jewelry store will be located at 1011 Fleet St. in the same building as Sephora and Lululemon stores. The store will be Pandora’s flagship location in Baltimore and is expected to open in April. The news comes a little over a month after Pandora announced that it would be moving its North American headquarters from downtown Baltimore to New York City’s Time Square.

Two Baltimore companies, FBH Corporation and cybersecurity firm ZeroFox, are financially linked to bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, according to a recent court filing in the U.S. District Court of Delaware. In November, the exchange valued at $32 billion plunged into bankruptcy, rocking the cryptocurrency industry and spurring government investigations and lawsuits. The exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested in December on eight criminal charges and faces up to 115 years in prison.

The firm behind one of Baltimore’s biggest technology developments now has a new CEO. Baltimore’s Wexford Science & Technology Inc., which is developing the University of Maryland BioPark, promoted Ted Russell to the president and CEO on Feb. 1. Russell previously served as both the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the over 50-person company and will continue to serve in the CFO role. Before joining Wexford in 2009, Russell was vice president of RBS Greenwich Capital’s real estate finance group.

Equipped with clear ceiling heights ranging from 16 to 28 feet, rear loading docks and a platform dock, a truck court and free surface parking surrounding the building, 1201 67th St. overlooks Pulaski Highway (US Route 40), is adjacent to Interstates 95 and 895 and is approximately five miles from the Port of Baltimore and 10 miles from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. (Submitted photo)