Business

GKV lost almost a third of its business in 2020 but the advertising firm has been able to get growing again by shifting its strategy to do more work with fast-growing consumer packaged goods companies. Like other ad agencies, Baltimore-based GKV’s revenue took a hit as companies slashed their marketing budgets in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A former McCormick & Co. Inc. office complex in Hunt Valley — now dubbed Schilling Green III — will soon hold a medical center. University of Maryland Orthopaedics recently signed a lease for about 17,000 square feet at 226 Schilling Circle as the lead tenant in one of three renovated buildings formerly occupied by McCormick. The spice giant consolidated its workforce in 2018 in a new, modern office complex nearby.

A group of unemployed Marylanders has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against state Labor Secretary Tiffany Robinson, claiming that the problems they faced in receiving jobless benefits violate federal law. The group, which filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland, is also seeking an injunction that would force Maryland’s Department of Labor to speed up its handling of unemployment claims.

Atlas Restaurant Group is keeping an eye on other landmark Fells Point properties as the Baltimore-based hospitality company continues to add to its growing portfolio. The restaurant group announced last week it will acquire the Waterfront Hotel, marking the third property in the historic neighborhood for Atlas, which also owns The Admiral’s Cup on Thames Street and The Choptank in the south shed of Broadway Market.

Wall Street is buying up homes across the country. That’s not news — but investors are continuing to gain market share amid an extremely competitive national housing market. The Business Journals analyzed data from Seattle-based Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ: RDFN), which tracked how many homes investors bought in 40 major metropolitan areas across the U.S. in the third quarter. Investors had a record quarter, buying 90,215 homes worth a combined $63.6 billion.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to open a bank branch at Mondawmin Mall, a much-needed spark for an area of Baltimore that has suffered from retail closures and disinvestment. The New York-based financial giant filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the U.S. Treasury Department for the branch location on Nov. 3. If approved, the branch will be JPMorgan Chase’s first in West Baltimore.

Patriots Glen National Golf Club in Elkton has been acquired by Baltimore developer Ray Jackson as part of his expanding Cecil County portfolio. Jackson’s Stonewall Capital bought the 214-acre property last month for an undisclosed price. The property had gone to auction with an opening bid of $500,000 also in October, but did not snag a buyer, Jackson said.

Stewart Bainum is a successful businessman (as board chair of the worldwide Choice Hotels chain), philanthropist, and former Maryland delegate and senator. Last year, he tried to buy the Baltimore Sun with the intention of turning it into a non-profit news organization focusing on local news. That effort was rebuffed by the Sun’s owners, a hedge fund called Alden Global Capital. Working with former Baltimore County Executive Ted Venetoulis, Bainum began planning a new local news operation, an on-line, multi-pronged platform that will be overseen by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a not-for-profit foundation named in honor of Mr. Venetoulis, who passed away last month from pancreatic cancer.