Market House should be a retailer's dream. The 150-year-old Annapolis landmark sits on City Dock, a venue that draws visitors by the thousands.
Yet, Market House, once a thriving venue called "the cafeteria of Annapolis," has just two tenants - a bank and a bakery. During the past decade, there have been setbacks: A flood in 2003 caused $1 million damage; an air-conditioning malfunction in 2006 resulted in millions of dollars in lawsuits and the loss of several tenants.
Now, with the lawsuits settled and Market House under exclusive city control, city leaders say they are ready for a rebound, with plans for about $1 million in renovations to lure tenants.
"It still has tremendous potential and can be a very vibrant place downtown," said Robert O. Schuetz, director of the city's central services administration, who is helping to oversee the market's evolution.
After attempting to regain control of Market House under eminent domain, the city paid $2.5 million last month to settle a lawsuit with Site Realty, allowing the company to break its 20-year lease to manage Market House. Site Realty sued the city in late 2007 for breach of contract, stemming from the air conditioning malfunction, which the company said caused vendors to leave and resulted in thousands of dollars in lost revenue. The city paid $15,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by Vaccarro's, an Italian bakery still operating at the site.
Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said she is pleased that the relationship with Site Realty has been severed and hopes to have the renovated Market House operating with new tenants by next spring.
"The city has been managing the Market House for over 300 years, and quite frankly, we would have done a heck of a better job than Site Realty," Moyer said, adding that she thought the company should have taken advantage of the building's views. "They had it set up with a rear view of the dock area. It was just nuts."
But there was trouble even before Site Realty, which operates the popular Eastern Market in Washington, began managing Market House. In 2003, after the market was flooded by Tropical Storm Isabel, the city evicted all of the tenants, with plans to bring in a more upscale vendor.
When Dean & Deluca, the exclusive chain of specialty stores pulled out of talks, the city was left empty-handed.
Schuetz said he hopes to install a new 40-ton geothermal HVAC system in the next few weeks and to have temporary tenants occupying stalls by July 1. Those tenants, Schuetz said, will rent the space with the understanding that they will vacate by December, so that construction on the space can begin in January.
City officials plan to renovate Market House to meet the needs of new tenants. What doesn't work now, Moyer and Schuetz said, is the interior's "food court-style" set-up.
Moyer envisions food stands through the building's midsection. Windows, which wrap around the building on three sides, would be more visible to visitors, instead of serving as the back of a food stall.
All changes to Market House must be approved by the city's Historic Preservation Commission. City officials said they plan to work with the commission to make Market House successful.
Moyer and Schuetz hosted a heavily attended charrette last weekend to get input from residents on the future of Market House.
