Roggenart European Bakery, Bistro & Cafe is building a new corporate headquarters and commissary in Columbia, converting the former Hysteria Brewing Co. taproom at 9570 Berger Road into an 11,000-square-foot production hub that will support the chain's growth toward 30 stores.
According to WBAL, Roggenart plans to complete the project by the end of the year, with the company currently in the permitting process in Columbia. Co-owner Brody Tennant told the outlet the company is working through permitting now, and the buildout is expected to take three to four months once construction begins in the coming weeks. The project is expected to cost between $500,000 and $750,000, per the same report.
From Brewery Taproom to Bakery Commissary
The Berger Road building has a different history than the one it's about to take on. The site was originally approved in July 2017 for Hysteria Brewing Company to operate a 1,590-square-foot craft beer taproom, according to the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board. Eviction notices were posted at the brewery's location in spring 2024 before the business permanently shut down, clearing the way for Roggenart to acquire the space.
The building sits within the Guilford Industrial Center, a roughly 49,370-square-foot industrial complex zoned for flex, office, and light manufacturing uses, with 18-foot clear ceiling heights and direct access to Route 32 and Snowden River Parkway, according to a LoopNet listing for the property. Roggenart has been searching for a location since 2025, per WBAL's reporting, and the Columbia site will now become the company's central commissary and corporate headquarters.
Outgrowing Savage Mill
Roggenart's current production facility sits inside Historic Savage Mill, a converted 1822 textile mill along the Little Patuxent River that today operates as a commercial center for artisan retailers, according to World Atlas. The mill originally manufactured cotton duck fabric for tents and sails. That production space is roughly 4,500 square feet and also houses a bakery shop, according to WBAL — meaning the new Columbia facility will be more than double the size of the operation it's meant to relieve.
Hoodline previously covered new tenants at Savage Mill, where Roggenart's original commissary has operated alongside a growing mix of retail and food service businesses. It remains an open question whether the Savage Mill location will shift its focus purely to retail once the Columbia commissary is fully up and running.
A Decade of Growth From a Single Storefront
Nemanja Popov, who goes by Nem, opened the first Roggenart location in Maryland in June 2017, choosing a name that translates from German as the art of rye to emphasize traditional European baking craftsmanship, according to the company's own account on its official blog. Popov initially handled the physical remodeling and construction of the bakery's early locations himself. Tennant partnered with Popov in 2020, and the pair modernized the company's operating systems as they worked to scale the business without compromising its scratch-made baking methods.
That growth earned local recognition along the way. The Howard County Chamber named Popov and Tennant Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2023, honoring the company's commercial growth and footprint in the county, according to a release distributed via PRWeb. Roggenart had also been named Best New Bakery by Baltimore Magazine back in 2017, the year it opened.
Twelve Locations and Counting Across Three States
WBAL reports that Roggenart now has 12 existing locations spread across Maryland, Virginia, and Chicago, describing the company as a local European-style bakery chain that continues to expand. The Maryland roots run deep, with locations across Baltimore, Towson, Frederick, Ellicott City, Columbia, and Savage, and the company announced plans in July 2025 to add storefronts in Hampstead and Catonsville as well.
The out-of-state push has moved quickly. Roggenart expanded into Northern Virginia by opening in Arlington's Ballston neighborhood in April 2024, then secured a lease at Reston Town Center West in a former Starbucks space that opened as the chain's tenth location. The company also pushed into the Midwest, establishing two Chicago storefronts on West Diversey Parkway and North Halsted Street — its first expansion outside the Mid-Atlantic, according to a release carried by PR Newswire.
Why the Chain Needs a Bigger Kitchen
Roggenart runs on a hybrid bakery, bistro, and cafe model, preparing everything from scratch daily, including artisan breads, cast-iron pressed sandwiches, and specialty items like the crookie, a croissant baked with cookie dough. The brand has built its identity around a third-place model that encourages customers to linger and work rather than grab a pastry and go.
Feeding a dozen locations across three states from a single 4,500-square-foot mill space has clearly reached its limits, which is why the company is now betting on a much larger commissary in Columbia's Guilford industrial corridor. Once construction gets underway in the coming weeks, Roggenart expects the buildout to take three to four months, positioning the new headquarters to open before the end of the year as the chain continues chasing its goal of 30 stores.
