Paterakis

Not bad, for a baker who got his start rolling dough in the basement of an East Baltimore rowhouse. On a recent afternoon, John Paterakis Sr. stood on the roof of a nine-story office tower he's building near Fells Point and inspected the army of more than 1,000 construction workers building his Inner Harbor East, a small city of 12 buildings rising beside the water. The $500 million project promises to be the largest ever built by a private developer in the city, dwarfing Harborplace and the Gallery mall.

THE CLOCK is ticking. Experts say it will take 28 to 30 months to build the major hotel Baltimore must have to keep its newly expanded Convention Center from failing. Without the hotel by 2000, the Convention Center could lose millions of dollars in customers who would otherwise come here. To meet the 2000 deadline, construction must begin this year. Yet the city waits.A group led by bakery mogul John Paterakis Sr. has been given until June 30 to meet conditions that would allow it to enter into an exclusive contract with the city to develop a hotel on an Inner Harbor East site it owns.

Bakery magnate John Paterakis Sr. intends to construct a $100 million Four Seasons "urban resort" hotel in the Inner Harbor, going against a sour economy and a rival proposal for a Ritz-Carlton across the water. The 200-room hotel - planned on a 2-acre parking lot in Inner Harbor East - will include condominiums and rental units where the well-to-do can share in the luxuries offered by the five-star chain, according to Michael S. Beatty, head of Paterakis' H&S Properties Development Corp.

Baltimore developer Otis Warren has until July 21 to decide whether to buy an Inner Harbor hotel or allow his partner, Michael W. Lasky, the owner of the bankrupt Inphomation Communications Inc., to sell it to developer John Paterakis Sr.Warren sued Lasky's Harbor Hotels LTD in Baltimore Circuit Court this month to block the sale of Harbor Inn Pier 5, in the 700 block of Eastern Ave.In the suit, Warren alleged that although they were partners for three years,...

EVEN AS John Paterakis Sr. continues to build his Inner Harbor East dream around the new Marriott hotel, he is preparing for the next chapter: Relocation of his H&S Bakery Inc. from his increasingly valuable land near the waterfront. That's what the hectic construction at 3800 E. Baltimore St. is all about. A new $18 million roll bakery is rising on a 13-acre parcel once occupied by the Esskay meat processing plant. Eventually, the H&S distribution center also will move there from Fleet St. and Central Ave. The bread man wants to build a new office high-rise on that prime piece of real estate, too. "It's incredible how fast this thing came out of ground," marvels Robert N. Santoni Sr., who watches construction from his supermarket next door.

WITH LITTLE risk or money of their own, an investment group headed by bakery mogul John Paterakis stands to reap a quick windfall if the City Council this week approves construction of the taxpayer-subsidized $132.6 million Inner Harbor East Wyndham Hotel.Despite vocal community opposition, most council members appear ready to vote for the hotel being pushed by Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke.They ought to think again before approving this questionable undertaking.Council members acknowledge they know less about the deal than they should.

THE CITY COUNCIL is about to make a big mistake. It seems willing tomorrow to approve two key bills related to the controversial Inner Harbor East Wyndham hotel, even though there is not yet a firm financing package detailing huge taxpayer subsidies for the $132.6 million project.The approvals would enable John Paterakis and his partners to build a 430-foot hotel, the city's second tallest skyscraper, on land that has a 180-foot height limit. The action would amount to an early Christmas gift to the long-time political contributor to Mayor Kurt Schmoke and several members of the council.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke is quietly attempting to broker a compromise between Peter G. Angelos and John Paterakis Sr., the two developers competing to build huge, publicly subsidized hotels on opposite sides of downtown.The mayor met privately yesterday with Paterakis, a baking mogul who wants to build a 750-room Wyndham at Inner Harbor East, a day after meeting with Orioles owner Angelos, who has proposed an 850-room Grand Hyatt on city-owned land across from the Baltimore Convention Center.

Bakery magnate John Paterakis Sr. plans to shorten a proposed office tower in Inner Harbor East by about 100 feet, but his representatives said yesterday that a gargantuan $210 million development between downtown and Fells Point will move ahead despite the faltering economy. "John Paterakis feels it's important for the community to keep the momentum going, and we don't want to stop it," said Michael S. Beatty of H&S Properties Development Corp. Paterakis has shown a willingness to gamble on developments in the past.

Float into Baltimore on a cruise ship and your first view of the city is likely to be framed by the gritty Dundalk Marine Terminal, where the state's passenger terminal sits among hulking cargo ships and industrial cranes. Now, some of the most influential and active developers on the waterfront are vying for the chance to build a gleaming multimillion-dollar terminal closer to the Inner Harbor and its tourist attractions. The potential payoff could ripple in many directions: a prettier and livelier gateway for passengers; more customers at developer-owned shops and restaurants; a new lure for the city to dangle before tourists; and freed-up space at Dundalk for industrial port uses.