News this week that Trout Daniel & Associates has teamed up with Manekin LLC to lease a new mixed-use development at Park Place in Bel Air is adding to the real estate blitz now underway in Harford County because of BRAC.

The project will include three Class A buildings, totaling more than 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space at 1921 Emmorton Rd.

The Trout Daniel team will be lead by Rene F. Daniel, principal of Trout Daniel & Associates; Matthew J. Haas, vice president of Manekin; and Joe Bradley, senior associate at  Manekin.

Lease agreements will soon be announced, Daniel said, but already Walgreens and Sonic have inked deals at Park Place, joining the already open and operating Goddard School and Freedom Bank.

Daniel, reached in Las Vegas just as the annual International Council of Shopping Centers’ ReCon conference was wrapping up this week, reported the show was successful with 30,000 registrants.

With the recession still gripping tight on retail leases with high vacancy rates, Daniel said he nevertheless remained optimistic.

“The overall mood was positive,” he reported. “But it takes a while to figure out what really happens at the show.”

The next 12 months, Daniel predicted, will be a time of number crunching.

“I think what happens now is the banks begin to evaluate the real status of outstanding loans and have to make decisions of what to do with properties challenged by vacancies, failure and inability on the part of the owners to make mortgage payments because they don’t have enough cash flow,” he said. “That will result in quite a number of available properties on the market. There will be some action on the market and it will be pretty good. I think there will be deals.”

Maryland, Daniel added, “is in good stead.” Chains like Quiznos, Party City and Mattress Warehouse are setting up shop in the state.

“It has suffered its losses in terms of industries moving out and is in a prime position for comeback,” Daniel said, of Maryland’s prospects. “Lots of people are talking about the state and making deals in the state.”

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If you’re entertaining a stay-cation this year, check out the latest edition of Fodor’s Guide to Virginia and Maryland. The nearly 500-page book is the 11th edition and offers oodles of advice on local and regional travel from experts who live in our area, including local freelance journalist Donna Marie Owens. Listings include budget-based advice as well as hotels and restaurants.

Another new publication worth reading is “The Broker’s Bible: The Way Back to Profit for Today’s Real Estate Company,” by Nancy Gardner.

Gardner, a Fairfax, Va.-based Realtor since 1979,  self-published the book. In it, she dissects the way real estate selling has changed in the book. She also offers advice for the current state of the market, challenging to say the least for most brokers. This is a great resource for brokers who want to up the ante for business prospects.

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Mondawmin Mall is the launching pad for a citywide E-Cycling campaign to collect old and unwanted cell phones.

And this effort pays off.

For every two  cell phones dropped off, participants will receive a $10 Shop Etc. Mall Gift Card from Mondawmin. The electronic recycling effort will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 10-12.  Participants are asked to drop-off old and unwanted cell phones in bins at the mall’s Center Court. Mondawmin is owned by General Growth Properties and located at 2401 Liberty Heights Ave.

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A new chain of grocery stores featuring locally-raised meat, 100 percent organic produce and fresh-baked bread will open for business in the Yorkridge Shopping Center Saturday.

MOM’s Organic Market will be a 14,000-square-foot store – the seventh location of the 24-year-old chain and the largest in Maryland.

MOM’s are designed to be eco-friendly shops with a mission set forth by founder Scott Nash to help protect and restore the environment. Exhibit A here is the electric car charging stations in MOM’s parking lots and skylights allowing natural spotlights on the organics lining the shelves below.

Yorkridge is a Schwaber Properties location with 165,000 square feet of retail anchored by Kohl’s and Michaels.

In other shopping center news this week, Chesapeake Real Estate Group announced it is eyeing plans to develop a large, yup-scale shopping center at Canton Crossing on the waterfront.

This is the site where beleaguered banker Ed Hale had once hoped to build the city’s second Target. The new plans could call for a chic grocery chain to set up shop near the boat slips and waterfront condos.

Exxon-Mobile Corp. currently owns the 32-acre site and the deal will involve 20 acres for the new retail venture.

Officials say more details will be released next week.

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This past Tuesday, 16 students from Beechfield Elementary Middle School in Baltimore took a field trip to the Ayers Saint Gross offices at Tide Point to learn more about the architecture field and present school projects to members of the architectural firm.

Last year, the firm started a six-week mentorship program with a select group of fifth graders from Vanessa Koonce’s class at the inner city school with hopes of sparking interest in the field of architecture. At present, only 1.5 percent of registered architects in the U.S. are African-American.

Says Jim Wheeler, president of Ayers Saint Gross: “By exposing these students to the creativity of architecture and design, we aim to encourage their interest in these fields as possible a career path while teaching them to be more visually literate.”

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In light of all the news about plans to change up the Inner Harbor that came out Wednesday, there are definitely some great things going on this holiday weekend worth checking out.

My colleague Melody wrote Tuesday about concerts that are kicking off this weekend at Harborplace. The free, 44-event summer concert series will be rocking through the summer. Saturday shows start at 8 p.m., Sunday shows at 6 p.m.

The NCAA 2011 Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be Friday through Monday. Fans can purchase tickets to the games at M&T Bank Stadium ranging from $75 to $350. Friday kicks off with a USILA North/South Game at Goucher College.

Saturday will be a great day for Brew at the Zoo (complete with wine too) at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. The event, also held on Sunday, goes from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets range from $40 for members under 21/designated drivers to $75 for non-members over 21. Wild Famous Dave’s BBQ will also be on hand for 200 guests to enjoy in a private tent for relaxing in the shade.

On Monday, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Fort McHenry will observe Memorial Day with wreath-layings, a flag demonstration involving veterans at noon, services at Mount Auburn, Baltimore’s oldest African-American cemetery and observance of the National Moment of Silence (3 p.m. in the Star Fort.)

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You might start seeing this “SolarBee” floating in the harbor soon.

Blue Water Baltimore, the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper and KCI Technologies are partnering up on a pilot project to study the aeration and mixing in the waters of Baltimore’s harbor.

The project will determine the scope of engineering and scientific skills needed to design a system that would reduce low oxygen “dead zones,” which form throughout the summer months. Those zones are responsible for wide-spread fish-kills that you’ve seen (and smelled?) around the harbor before.

A solar-powered “SolarBee” aeration and mixing device will be anchored in the harbor off the end of the Recreation Pier at 1715 Thames St. in Fells Point starting Thursday.

The pilot study program will monitor and track dissolved oxygen, the temperature of the water, salinity, density and conductivity.  Getting that information will help the companies create devices to reduce those “dead zones.”

Funding for the program comes from a $100,000 grant from the Abell Foundation. KCI will be conducting the monitoring of the program.

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A free, 44-event summer concert series and family fun dates at Harborplace were announced Tuesday beginning this weekend with a Saturday concert by the local Cajun and Zydeco band, the Crawdaddies.

The concert series will feature bands that play anything from Motown, funk and jazz, oldies, blues, R&B and country. Concerts on Fridays — from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. — will also link to happy hour deals at nearby restaurants.

Saturday concerts begin at 8 p.m. and Sunday concerts begin at 6 p.m.

In addition, General Growth Properties, owner of Harborplace and the Gallery, also announced that free “family fun days” will return to the city landmark on Saturday mornings beginning June 18 with Pam the Kindersinger. The concerts all start at 10 a.m. Listings of this summer’s family fun concerts are below.

2011 Summer Fun concerts:

May

June

July

August

• Friday, August 5: Tom Principato
• Saturday, August 6: Steve Guyger & The Excellos
• Sunday, August 7: Blind Man Leading
• Friday, August 12: The New Romance
• Saturday, August 13: Patrick Alban and Noche Latina
• Sunday, August 14: The Double Edge
• Friday, August 19: The Real Geniuses
• Saturday, August 20: Texas Chainsaw Horns
• Sunday, August 21: Brian Farley Band
• Friday, August 26: Gene McBride & The Rest is History
• Saturday, August 27: Hot Tub Limo Party
• Sunday, August 28: Karter Jaymes
• Friday, September 2: Full Tilt
• Saturday, September 3: Quiet Fire Soul Show
• Sunday, September 4: Greg Hatza Organ-ization

Family Fun listings:

Saturdays:  10:00 a.m.

• June 18:            Pam the Kindersinger
• June 25:            Silly Goose & Val
• July 2:               Uncle Pete with Kids
• July 9:               Beowulf T. Wonderbunny’s Traveling Show of Mystery
• July 16:             Zig Zag the Magical Clown
• July 23:             Very Much the Clown
• July 30:             The Mayhem Magical Circus
• August 6:          Unicycle Lady
• August 13:        Silly Goose & Val
• August 20:        Kinderman
• August 27:        Zig Zag the Magical Clown

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Actress Betty White has become even more spectacular in her golden years.

To show for it, she teamed up with AARP to tell other older Americans to “get over” the idea of getting over the hill. Golden Girl White will be in broadcast ads and online videos that encourages people to get rid of stereotypes about aging. I’m pretty sure nobody better could have been picked for this campaign.

White’s ascension to being a cultural staple — winning six Emmy awards through her roles on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls and even Saturday Night Live, all happened after turning 50.

“I think age is what you make of it — just look at me!” White said in a statement. “I’m going to hang out as long as anybody will pay attention.”

If White could easily get me to buy a Snickers bar with this commercial, I’ll be okay with turning 50 in another couple of decades.

Check out AARP’s “get over it” ad featuring Betty White below:

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Chazz: A Bronx Original, the brainchild of actor Chazz Palminteri and Aldo’s Ristorante’s Sergio Vitale and Alessandro Vitale, is opening June 10.

The Italian American cuisine restaurant will open in Harbor East at 1415 Aliceanna St. The restaurant is designed by Rita St. Clair Associates Inc. and will revisit scenes from Palminteri’s “A Bronx Tale,” including Arthur Avenue — the main bar and gathering place from the 1993 film.

Palminteri wrote the screenplay for “A Bronx Tale,” which was based off of a one-man show also written by and performed by him.

Diners will be able to sit at the “pizza altar” to watch their meals prepared and baked to order in a coal oven. The menu includes everything from antipasti to piccoli piatti, and will be open for dinner from 5 p.m. to midnight seven days a week. The restaurant can seat up to 165 guests.

Lunch, late-night dining, take-out and curbside service is expected to be offered in upcoming months.

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If you’re headed to Home Depot and see a bunch of people driving screws into a surface rather furiously, you might wonder what the big deal is.

DeWalt is having a campaign to promote the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez v. Ryan Rhodes Championship Boxing Match coming up June 18. The Towson-based subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker is having competitions of its own — to see who can drive screws the fastest.

The company will hold these competitions at various Home Depot stores around the U.S. until June 17.  Winners of each event will get a prize package that includes DeWalt-branded boxing gloves signed by Oscar De La Hoya, a DeWalt 12 Volt Max driver kit and a t-shirt.

“This will be a great way to generate attention around the fight and allow professional contractors to get their hands on our newest power tools and win some exciting prizes,” said Hector Vallejo, multicultural marketing manager for DeWalt, in a statement.

Anyone can join the competitions for free, so long as participants are over 18 years of age.

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The news on Thursday that Miles & Stockbridge PC would move its Baltimore office to the Transamerica Tower prompted a huge sigh of relief for downtowners. The tower, a signature landmark on Baltimore’s skyline, is now nearly replenished after the departure of Legg Mason for glitzy digs in Harbor East in 2009.

The deal was brokered by Robert A. Manekin, senior vice president and director of brokerage and investment services for Manekin LLC, Elizabeth Cooper and Michael Singer, of Jones Lang LaSalle.

The move to the tower at 100 Light St. on a 15-year lease, to commence in April 2013, was also brokered by John Schulze and Matt Seward of Cassidy Turley, who represented a subsidiary of Lexington Realty Trust, the tower’s owner.

As The Daily Record’s Danielle Ulman reported, the 275-employee law firm has been at 10 Light St. since it was founded 79 years ago, most recently as a sublessee of Bank of America.  The bank’s own lease will expire in about 10 years, which was a factor in Miles’ decision to move.

The firm also was seeking a more modern and bigger space. It has leased about 107,000 square feet on seven floors of the Transamerica Tower and has an option on about another 13,000 square feet.

Another local law firm, Ober | Kaler, moved into the tower this spring.

The building has been undergoing an extensive renovation and greening for the past couple of years with the addition of a park-like plaza and more open feel in the ground floor area.

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Sen. Benjamin Cardin and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake attended Friday’s grand opening of the Wayland Village Senior Apartments, an 89-unit affordable rental complex in Forest Park for low- and moderate-income seniors and adults with disabilities.

The complex is owned by Bon Secours Wayland Limited Partnership and financed by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, JPMorgan and Enterprise Community Investment.

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Yerman Witman Gaines and Conklin Realty LLC, the residential real estate brokerage division of The Strata Group, has opened a full-service office with a staff of 50 Realtors at the Severn Square Shopping Center located at 2622 Annapolis Road. The office telephone number is 410-514-1500.

Joanne Poole, past president of the Anne Arundel County Association of Realtors, will be branch manager.

The venture is in response to the influx of BRAC residents in the county, who will take on more than 5,000 jobs at Fort George G. Meade and the National Security Agency through 2015, said Billy Yerman, CEO of Strata. Housing demand in Anne Arundel County is expected to impact nearly 10,000 households, Yerman said.

“This location adjacent to Fort Meade provides our current and future Realtors with a strategic and visible presence to service the many home buying and home selling opportunities that we envision developing, beginning immediately,” Yerman said.

“We have invested heavily in attracting seasoned and experienced professionals to our team, and equipping them with innovative marketing techniques and the latest technology.”

YWGC has even created a smart-phone app for its listings as the real estate industry continues to embrace social media.

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Speaking of which, Esolist is a new web application and social media marketing platform for real estate professionals.

Esolist will allow Realtors to  create a polished web site for each listing in their portfolio as well as manage Facebook profiles, fan pages and Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube accounts — all from one platform, at the same time — for as little as $19.99 per month.

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The Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers will meet on May 26 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. More than 1,000 real estate officials are expected to attend the 20th annual meeting, which will feature political strategist Donna Brazile as keynote speaker.

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