Week in review – Business edition

Posted: 6:05 pm Thu, October 8, 2009
By Ben Mook

Housing rebound?
Housing sales in Maryland have more than doubled since January – from 2,209 to 4,838 – according to the Maryland Association of Realtors. The state’s real estate and home building industries appear to have hit bottom and begun a slow climb back up, some experts say. The federal first-time home buyer tax credit has been “a big help,” says Steve Meszaros, association president.

Dixon wants soccer study
Mayor Sheila Dixon has asked the Maryland Stadium Authority to look into the economic benefits of building a stadium at South Baltimore’s Westport project for the D.C. United professional soccer team. “In addition to soccer, the stadium could be used for lacrosse games, concerts and others events,” she said in a letter, made public Tuesday.

Hopkins scientist wins Nobel
Carol W. Greider, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will share the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Greider’s award – for discovering an enzyme called telomerase – was announced Monday. The prize is expected to further Hopkins’ image. The university leads the nation in federal grants for research, with $1.42 billion spent last year.

Drop expected in holiday sales
The National Retail Federation is predicting another decline in holiday sales, but says it shouldn’t be as bad as last year’s. The group forecasts a 1 percent decline to $437.6 billion in holiday sales during November and December, compared with a 3.4 percent actual decline for the period last year. Business executives in Maryland say they hope sales here will be better than that.

City reopens bidding
Baltimore officials have reopened bidding for two projects totaling roughly $180 million amid objections accusing the city of favoritism. The Board of Estimates on Wednesday tossed out all the bids for two projects associated with the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant, pointing to various errors. Some companies said the move favors construction giant Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., which now has the benefit of seeing the competition’s proposals.

Perez going to Washington
Thomas E. Perez, Maryland’s secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, finally won Senate confirmation to the top civil rights position at the U.S. Justice Department. President Barack Obama nominated Perez in March. Obama is looking to remake the Civil Rights Division, which some have criticized as abandoning its mission during the Bush years.