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Sandlot, the popular waterfront bar, is coming back in 2022 after all, albeit at a slightly smaller location and under new management, according to Beatty Development Group.
“We were not sure until a few weeks ago that this was actually going to happen,” said Christopher Seiler, Beatty’s director of marketing and communications. “By no means was it a sure thing.”
But don’t get too attached. Seiler emphasized that: “Ultimately this is all still temporary. Hopefully we can get two years out of this new version of it, but that’s not a guarantee.”
Sandlot first opened in 2017 to draw in Baltimoreans to Harbor Point, a former industrial site that Beatty Development is redeveloping into a 27-acre mixed use neighborhood between Fells Point and Harbor East. While Sandlot was always described as a short-term waterfront concept, fans were nonetheless bereft at news that Sandlot would be closing for good at the end of last summer.
In a release, Michael Beatty, president of Beatty Development Group said: “We just can’t quit Sandlot. The future of Sandlot is one of the questions we’ve gotten asked about the most since last season ended.”
The decision to reopen it this year arose when developers realized there was a piece of land, formerly home to some greenhouses maintained by Karma Farm, that would be available on the far west of Sandlot’s previous location. That spot is set to become a park by the new T. Rowe Price headquarters, which is under construction.
The location faces downtown and the Harbor East marina and features a smaller footprint than its predecessor. Guests will enter the site through the Exelon building garage on Dock Street. (Some of us are likely to get lost).
Sandlot’s grand reopening is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend — Saturday, May 28 through Monday, May 30. The bar will be open most Thursdays through Sundays.
From its new location on the far western side of Harbor Point, Sandlot will continue to serve up beverages from retrofitted shipping trailers and silver Airstreams. Three sand volleyball courts from the previous location will host beach volleyball and cornhole leagues operated by Volo City Sports.
Bar Movement is taking over the site’s operations from Spike Gjerde and Corey Polyoka, the team that launched and ran Sandlot for its first 5 years.
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Owned and operated by husband and wife team John and Mary Miller, Bar Movement, a mobile bar and hospitality company, will offer guests a “fun and creative” bar program with a rotating roster of food trucks and some guest chef appearances through the summer, according to a release. Sandlot will no longer offer a full kitchen.
Sandlot has “always been attractive since I’m right in the neighborhood,” said John Miller, a co-owner of Vida Taco Bar in Harbor Point, which will operate a pop-up called Sunset Beach at the Sandlot.
“We’re going to bring a new twist to it,” he said. “It’s going to be the best spot to watch the sun set in the city, for sure.”
A release stated that Gjerde and Polyoka are exploring “new ventures including talks of future partnerships at Harbor Point.”
Could Gjerde, the Beard award winning chef behind Baltimore’s Woodberry Kitchen, have plans for an eatery at Harbor Point?
“If they’re interested in a restaurant, we’ll certainly hear what they have to say,” Seiler said. “When they come up with something it’s usually pretty creative and pretty fun.”
Gjerde could not immediately be reached for comment.