BALTIMORE (February 10, 2015) – Urban Bar-B-Que Company, a locally-owned fast-casual concept that says it will soon feature seven locations throughout the Maryland and Washington, D.C. marketplace, has signed a lease with St. John Properties, Inc. for 2400 square feet of space at 802 Pinnacle Drive in BWI Technology Park II in Linthicum, representing the company’s first restaurant in the Baltimore metropolitan region. The Urban Bar-B-Que chain was founded by friends and local entrepreneurs David Calkins and Lee Howard, who separately bring restaurant management and cooking experience to the venture. The chain was named in the last year’s “16 best BBQ spots in 13 cities around the U.S.” list by Business Insider.

Approximately 18 months ago, Ledo Pizza System, Inc., a pizza store franchisor, purchased a minority interest in Urban Bar-B-Que and formed a partnership to establish franchise regions and grow the footprint of the fast-casual chain. MTM Development, LLC, which also operates three Ledo Pizza locations, is the local franchise group working with Urban Bar-B-Que at the BWI Tech Park II location, which is expected to open in early 2015.

BWI Technology Park II is comprised of four flex buildings containing more than 200,000 square feet of space, two multi-story office buildings offering an additional 60,000 square feet of space, and a retail component that consists of nearly 20,000 square feet of space. The 44-acre business community is located in Anne Arundel County near the intersection of West Nursery Road and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD Rt. 295) near BWI Airport. More than 60,000 people reside within a three-mile radius of the site, which also features active daytime traffic based on its proximity to the airport and nearby business communities.

Urban Bar-B-Que specializes in an assortment of barbeque chicken, pork ribs, sausage and beef brisket dishes that offer consumers a choice of four different sauces, including tomato-based, mustard-based and a Carolina-blend made from apple cider vinegar and spices. The restaurant also serves a variety of salads, sandwiches, burgers and chili bowls, including the Urban Legend, which is prepared with Fritos, chopped beef brisket, cheddar jack cheese and onions. The restaurant chain is open for lunch and dinner.

“We are looking to grow both the Ledo Pizza and Urban Bar-B-Que brands together, and this site near BWI Airport matches every location and demographic criteria that we need,” explained Martin Gorman of MTM Development, LLC. “Urban Bar-B-Que provides us entry into the extremely popular fast-casual category and we are also interested in building locations housing both brands.

“We have successfully operated a Ledo Pizza store at Magothy Beach Plaza, a center owned by St. John Properties, since 2006,” he added. “Establishing another relationship with the company was a significant factor in choosing this site, as St. John is a first-class development company.”

“We are extremely impressed with the Urban Bar-B-Que Company management team and believe their restaurant concept fills a void in the BWI business community sub-market,” explained Bill Holzman, Vice President for Retail Leasing at St. John Properties. “In a relatively short amount of time, Urban Bar-B-Que has successfully attracted loyal consumer followings with the introduction of unique product offerings and quick service in an appealing, fast-casual environment. The menu variety and price points consistently appeals to business people and families.”

St. John Properties, Inc., founded in 1971, owns and has developed nearly 17 million square feet of R&D/flex, office, retail and warehouse space in Virginia, Maryland, Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin. For more information about the company, visit sjp.mu9b0uf9-liquidwebsites.com.

For more information, contact:
Al Cunniff, Director of Marketing, St. John Properties, Inc.
410-369-1277