Baltimore Peninsula’s developers have sold the site where Nick’s Fish House has stood for two decades to the restaurant operators, who plan upgrades and an expansion.
MAG Partners and MacFarlane Partners, developers leading construction of the South Baltimore waterfront community, announced the sale Wednesday. MAG and MacFarlane are redeveloping the 235-acre site south of Interstate 95, formerly called Port Covington, along with Kevin Plank’s private investment firm, Sagamore Ventures, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
The new owners, including Jim Weisgerber, Eric Sugrue and Steve Montgomery, have operated the seafood restaurant overlooking the Patapsco River’s Middle Branch since 2015. The sale, which included the restaurant building and property, closed Thursday.
The developers did not disclose a sales price.
Last month Sagamore Ventures sold the marina next to NIck’s, Baltimore Yacht Basin Marina, to BYB Prop Real Estate Partners, led by Marcellous Butler, co-founder of Baltimore-based floating home company Flohom.
Sagamore had brought Weisgerber, Sugrue and Montgomery in to operate Nick’s as the mixed-use community’s first tenant in 2015. That led to nearly a decade of “astonishing success,” the developers said. Nick’s employs nearly 200 people.
“We’re thrilled to be handing the reins over to the folks that have been integral in making Nick’s the iconic, beloved spot it is today,” said Greg Resh, Sagamore’s CFO and executive vice president, in a news release.
Carly Eutsler, longtime director of operations at Nick’s, will become the restaurant’s managing partner. She said holds NIck’s holds “a special place in the hearts of so many Baltimoreans.”
As owners, the former operators plan to expand and upgrade a restaurant known for its crabcakes, orange crush cocktails and waterfront views.
The ownership change comes at a time when an influx of tenants and businesses are expected this year and beyond in Baltimore Peninsula.
The development so far includes a Roost Baltimore hotel, two apartment buildings that are half leased, and Rye Street Market, where Slutty Vegan and Bar Vegan restaurants are coming by the end of the year. Future tenants include Jersey Mike’s, BK Lobster, Urbano Mexican Fare and LIVE-K karaoke. The Exchange, a multivendor retail space, will open later this year.
CFG Bank opened its new headquarters at Baltimore Peninsula in April; the Baltimore Ravens secured office space as part of their stadium renovation plans and the city recently opened the 28,000-square-foot Elijah’s Park.
