Since trying their loaves, Warner Commercial is waiting with bated breath for the grand opening of Twin Bears Bakery at Baker’s Row in Historic Downtown Frederick, Maryland.
This unique, historic factory building was formerly home to the G&L Baking Company for decades before the entire building was completely renovated into an antique mall and later into a mixed use building. “We were excited to be able to bring a bakery back into the tenant mix in a space that served that purpose for many years. This is what happens in a vibrant downtown, the use of spaces come back around to what is needed in the community,” says Jonathan Warner. “And believe me, this bread is needed!”
Twin Bears grew out of the pandemic when its founder, Andrew Roy, began experimenting with sourdough like so many other folks stuck at home. As he shared his bread with friends and neighbors, they started offering to pay for regular deliveries and a business was born!
Andrew, his wife Emily and daughter Zia, moved to Maryland nearly a decade ago from California. Initially living in Germantown, they planned to move back to San Francisco after a couple of years, but when they visited downtown Frederick, they fell in love with the community spirit and historic architecture. Andrew went back to San Francisco to train at the SF Baking Institute and now he is proud to share traditional sourdough baking with the Frederick community using local, fresh-milled grains wherever possible.
Andrew and Emily began the search for a brick and mortar shop in 2023 and “since Jonathan is a pillar of the downtown community we knew we had to contact him for location ideas,” explained Emily. “Despite passing 125 South Carroll Street hundreds of times, we didn’t realize it had been a bakery for most of the 20th century until Jonathan showed us the space,” she said. “We knew it was the perfect location to bring authentic sourdough to Frederick, while reviving the original bakery purpose of the property. We can’t wait to open our doors so the community can see the original brick oven.”
Warner Commercial is working with our long-time clients, Mike and Chris Smariga, and Twin Bears to make the space more accessible, so look for changes in the window-line and front entrance to the new bakery.
While they are under construction, Warner Commercial highly recommends you avail yourself of their preorder option and grab some bread! Twin Bears is offering sourdough bread and bagel pickups most weekends here.
Warner Commercial strives to develop lasting relationships, while always implementing a win-win approach for our owners and tenants. We look forward to assisting you with your commercial real estate goals. Give us a call today at 301-663-0202.
