BALTIMORE (April 7, 2011) – Gino’s, the iconic chain of fast-food restaurants founded by former Baltimore Colts football players Gino Marchetti and Alan Ameche and subsequently acquired by The Marriott Corporation in 1982, has chosen The Shops at Maryland Executive Park as the site for its re-emergence in the Baltimore metropolitan marketplace. Recently re-branded and operating under a new name, Gino’s Burgers and Chicken is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. A&M Hospitality, which was awarded franchise rights for sections of central Maryland, intends to open a 3,500 square foot location within the Maryland Executive Park business community by this summer. The park, located near the intersection of Joppa Road and LaSalle Road, is developed and owned by St. John Properties, Inc.

The new Gino’s Burgers and Chicken was formed last year by a partnership involving long-time restaurant veterans Tom Romano and Tom Clatterbuck with original founder Gino Marchetti operating as a member of the Advisory Board. The menu reflects meals that Baltimoreans enjoyed beginning in the late 1950s, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, the Gino Giant (which predated McDonald’s Big Mac), a variety of chicken sandwiches such as Gino’s Chicken Giant, plus salads, french fries and ice cream shakes.

After opening its inaugural restaurant in King of Prussia late last year, Gino’s Burgers and Chicken focused its attention on the Central Maryland region with the intention of securing an initial wave of strategic locations in its entry program. The chain anticipates opening more than 20 stores within the next 10 years, including company-owned and franchise-owned and operated arrangements.

A & M Hospitality, owned by entrepreneurs Scott Autry and Jared Miller, intends to open up to ten Gino’s Burgers and Chicken restaurants in its franchise territory, which encompasses sections of Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties. Autry’s father worked as an area manager for the original Gino’s in the 1960s and 1970s.

“Securing this lease, with the realization that we will soon have a hot Gino’s Giant in our hands, along with some fries, is like going back into time to enjoy our days as youngsters growing up in Baltimore,” stated Lawrence F. Maykrantz, President of St. John Properties. “The name Gino’s is synonymous with football, the 1960s and fried chicken prepared with special seasonings. The re-appearance of this restaurant stirs great memories and we are confident that Gino’s at Maryland Executive Park will be immediately embraced by past and new customers.”

St. John Properties believes that recent re-development activities performed at Maryland Executive Park, which transformed a portion of the office space into 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail, played a significant role in the project’s selection by Gino’s. “We recognized an opportunity to supplement the existing office product with a retail usage that would provide additional restaurant, soft goods and business amenities to area employees as well as the surrounding community,” explained Jerry Wit, Senior Vice President – Marketing for St. John Properties. “Our work included the change of zoning to accommodate retail product, as well as structural changes to the interior and exterior.”

St. John Properties worked in partnership with architectural firm Brasher Design on this project. “The most crucial component of this reconfiguration was opening up the sides of the building that front on Joppa Road and are exposed to vehicular traffic,” explained Don Kemp, Senior Vice President of Brasher Design in Columbia. “The removal of solid walls and the addition of glass, combined with space allocated for merchant signage, created important elements attractive to potential retailers. Pedestrian sidewalks were also specified for outside the space to allow more convenient access to the storefronts,” he added.

More than 140,000 consumers and 60,000 households reside within a three-mile radius of The Shops at Maryland Executive Park, with average household income exceeding $71,000.

Approximately 200 of the original 359 Gino’s company-owned restaurants were re-branded to the Roy Rogers nameplate following the acquisition by Marriott in 1982. The remaining Gino’s restaurants either closed or were converted to the Kentucky Fried Chicken concept. The first Gino’s restaurant opened in 1959 at 4009 North Point Road in Dundalk. The last Gino’s, an independently-owned restaurant located in Pasadena, MD, closed in 1991.

St. John Properties, Inc., founded in 1971 as MIE Properties, owns and has developed more than 14 million square feet of R&D/flex, warehouse, office and retail space in Maryland, Colorado, Louisiana, Virginia 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