Business

Baltimore Community Lending (BCL) will spend close to $5 million on a new headquarters on Calvert Street to expand its business development program and give its staff some breathing room. The community development financial institution (CDFI) purchased the former American Office headquarters at 309 N. Calvert St. back in March for $3 million. Watchen Bruce, BCL’s CEO, said the nonprofit had been searching for a new building as the organization had outgrown its much smaller space in the University of Maryland Biopark.

Delta Hotels Baltimore Inner Harbor appears to have closed, the second from the brand under Marriott International to close in Greater Baltimore this year. The 150-room hotel at 1 E. Redwood St. has been boarded up and its signage removed. There is no availability for rooms on its website. The apparent closure comes as a Delta Hotels in Hunt Valley closed at the end of October.

LifeBridge Health employees helped celebrate the community-focused health care system’s 25th anniversary on Sept. 30 by volunteering to help with a number of service projects throughout the city of Baltimore as well as Baltimore and Carroll counties. Neil Meltzer, president and CEO of LifeBridge Health, said the system looked to its founding principles and purpose of caring for its communities to commemorate the anniversary, completing service projects such as volunteering to sort food donations at the Westminster Rescue Mission in Carroll County, providing groundskeeping at Arlington Elementary School in Baltimore County, painting picnic tables at Mary Ann Winterling Elementary in Baltimore and collecting hundreds of school supplies in a back-to-school drive for students at Winfield Elementary in Randallstown and for Northwest Hospital’s DOVE program, which supports families facing domestic abuse.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. is on track to invest billions of dollars in its natural gas infrastructure and more than double a typical household’s bill by 2035, which flies in the face of state climate goals, a consumer advocate’s report out this week says. The Office of People’s Counsel released new projections showing that BGE and two other gas utilities, the three largest in Maryland, are on track to spend $53 billion on gas equipment over the next 46 years.

Josh Levinson did not plan to move two Charm City Run locations at the same time, but could not pass up the opportunity for larger spaces. The CEO and founder of the running retailer said the company will move its Timonium and Annapolis stores to new spaces close to the existing stores next year. Its flagship store in Baltimore County will nearly double in size while Annapolis will add around 1,300 square feet.

The U.S. arm of the European infrastructure giant behind the Purple Line project and the I-66 Express Lanes outside the Beltway has moved its headquarters from New York City to the District in a deal incentivized through the D.C.’s Vitality Fund. Meridiam Infrastructure North America Corp., a subsidiary of Paris-based Meridiam, opened its 20,000-square-foot D.C. headquarters in August on the sixth floor of 1700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, the recently renovated Mills Building.

Frederick County biotechnology startup Phycin has received $400,000 from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund to help develop and commercialize the use of algae proteins in medical care and the food market. The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund, managed by the Maryland Technology Development Corp., distributed $4 million among 12 scientists from Maryland companies and research institutions to further their research.

A Baltimore Asian fusion eatery with three locations topped Yelp’s list of places to eat in Greater Baltimore this year.Ekiben, known for its steamed bun sandwiches and rice bowls, took first place on Yelp’s top 25 places to eat in Greater Baltimore. Released on Monday by the business review website and application, the list includes spots from Baltimore City to the surrounding Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard and Harford Counties and ranks restaurants through various factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews from the summer of 2022 to the summer of 2023.