“The market seems to be responding,” said Graziose, also a senior vice president with Long Island-based RXR Realty, owner of the property.

That wasn’t always the case. The development of 190 units struggled to attract buyers after it opened in 2007, and by August 2010, only 23 units had sold.

In response, Graziose has drastically cut the sales prices of the remaining units to jump start action. Pressure was also lifted about a year ago after a buy-back by RXR of a $176 million private refinancing loan made in 2010 to restructure the high debt load of the posh development.

Graziose, who lives at the Ritz-Carlton Residences with his family, said the waterfront condos located along Key Highway have been popular lately among young professionals with children.

“I’ve sold two more condos here where people buy two units and merge them together,” he said of two double-wides recently completed that total 4,100 and 3,800 square feet and sold for $2.5 million and $2.3 million, respectively.

“Our average age has gone down to 51, but folks in their late 30s and early 40s have caught on to it,” Graziose said. “What I’m finding is that people that work in the city want to be close enough to their businesses and be back home to be with their children.”

Graziose said the Ritz is readying a new short video and revamped website to help push sales this year. So far, he has sold 20 units this year, and has set a goal of selling 110 of the development’s 190 total units by December 31. Last year, he said the sales force closed on a total of 37 properties there.

“I’m very pleased with our progress,” Graziose, ever the optimist, said. “We’re really seeing a lot of traffic here — 65 percent of our buyers are from Baltimore, and others are from New York, Chicago and Texas. We have people looking who are relocating from Exelon, Johns Hopkins and we’ve had some inquiries from folks who work at Under Armour.”

***

This week, Cushman & Wakefield inked a long-term lease to relocate the Everything Warehouse to 54,600 square feet of space at 1615 Wicomico Street in Baltimore. The company is a supplier of industrial material handling equipment and racking and retail store fixtures.

***

Cresa, a Washington-based tenant commercial real estate firm, is opening a Baltimore office to better serve the company’s tenants now in more than 1.4 million square feet of office space locally. Senior vice president Dan Shapiro and vice president Scott Wingrat will lead the Baltimore office.

“Cresa’s D.C. operations have responded to a demand in the Baltimore market for objective and conflict-free tenant representation,” said Rich Rhodes, managing principal. “Our ability to act in a full advisory role, providing long-term solutions based on in-depth analysis of a corporation’s needs, is an unprecedented service in the Baltimore region and has provided us with a natural opportunity for expansion into that territory.”

Cresa also has offices in southern Maryland and Virginia and now in Baltimore.

***

Women’s designer Eileen Fisher will soon open its first Baltimore-area store at Hunt Valley Towne Centre.

Developers Greenberg Gibbons said this week the company has leased 6,273 square feet of space at a new pad site at the northern Baltimore County mall located off of Interstate 83 at Shawan Road. Construction is underway.

***

Get your sweet tooth on: The Best of Luck Candy & Gifts shop has opened at the Power Plant in the Inner Harbor.

The boutique candy and gift shop features “the highest quality nostalgia and bulk candy and gift baskets, in addition to hosting the sweetest and most unique events including children’s birthday parties, sweet sixteen parties and baby showers,” an announcement said this week.

The Best of Luck had been located at Harbor East, but the move allowed the small local business to double its size to 900 square feet and offer new sweetness and treats. Candy and treats are offered beginning at $9.99 per pound, with chocolate selling for a bulk rate of $11.99 per pound. The shop is located next to Phillips Seafood, is open seven days a week and also sells fresh popcorn, slushies and ice cream.

“The energy of the Inner Harbor is infectious and the new, larger space allowed us not only to grow our candy offerings, but also to expand our concept to include a wider array of confections and gifts, plus a fantastic new event space,” said owner Lucky Thompson.

***

NAIOP will hold its annual industrial real estate conference in Jersey City, N.J., beginning June 14.

The organizers for the commercial real estate development association’s event plan to address regional, national and global goods forecasts and challenges, real estate demand drivers and strategies for accessing capital in “today’s unsettled market.”

The conference will also feature unusual live entertainment with a professional interest theme: an event “Art of the Deal — Shark Tank” — where a pair of developers will pitch opportunities to the equity reps from Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.

***

TIDBITS: Jimmy John’s sandwich shop has opened a new franchise at the popular McHenry Row in Locust Point … MacKenzie Management Co. will manage the redeveloped 12-story Towson City Center when the building delivers in June. Work there includes leasing and accounts payable. Tenants include MileOne Automotive, Towson University’s College of Health Professions and WTMD-FM and a new farm-to-table steakhouse restaurant concept, Cunningham Kitchen, is also expected to open there soon. Caves Valley Partners purchased the building last spring of 2011, after it had sat vacant for almost a decade… Baltimore’s Floura Teeter Landscape Architects recently promoted three: Scott Huot, RLA, is now a senior associate and landscape designers Jeffrey Stump and Jeremy Frederick are new associates with the firm.

The North Baltimore retail and office complex was hit hard when the Giant Food store closed its doors to move about a mile away to the Green Spring Tower Shopping Center in a former Super Fresh site.

Mid-morning one day this week, there were fewer than a dozen shoppers at the Rotunda. The hallways, once bustling with retail, were empty.

“It’s not much traffic,” lamented Fariba Sadgdi, manager at the Hair Cuttery. “To me, there is no reason for people to come here except for the movie theater.”

Sadgdi said there is a “98 percent chance” that her shop will be the next defection from the Rotunda, moving to the Green Spring Tower Shopping Center just like Giant in the near future.

She said the shop’s management has had little to no contact from the mall’s owners, Hekemian & Co., saying, “We’re dangling. We don’t know what’s going on. Business is down 25 percent.”

Chris Bell, vice president for development at Hekemian was unavailable for comment.

Nearby, Sheldon Pearlman, owner of Amazing Spiral, a novelty book and toy store, said the loss of Giant at the Rotunda had slowed traffic.

Striving to remain optimistic, Pearlman said the Rotunda Cinema would soon add a fourth screen that would bring in more patrons over the summer with some popular films getting ready to premier. In response, he said his store has extended its hours to 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

________________________________________________________________________

This week, details emerged in The Baltimore Sun about massive construction expected to begin by the end of the year in Howard County. The project is a $100 million retail, apartment and parking development called The Metropolitan Downtown Columbia.

It will add 380 new housing units to a nearly 13-acre site near The Mall in Columbia and will be the first new residential building in the woodsy suburban community in 10 years. About 14,000 square feet of retail space is also being planned for the site.

Howard Hughes Corp., the master developer of the Columbia Town Center, will develop the complex with Virginia developer Kettler and Ellicott-City-based Orchard Development.

When the apartments open in 2014, they will rent for up to $2,800.

_________________________________________________________________

In what surely is among the highest residential asking prices in Maryland history, Steve and Maxine Phillips this week listed their 23-acre estate in Annapolis for $32 million.

Phillips is CEO of the Phillips Seafood enterprises, which sprang from the humble roots of a crab shack opened by his parents in Ocean City in 1956. Today, the family’s restaurant and mail-order domain includes several restaurants and carryout counters including a new Inner Harbor setting at the Power Plant.

The Phillips have renovated the Annapolis property and upgraded it from its former use as a monastery. The house is listed by Sotheby’s International Realty. The Capital newspaper of Annapolis reported last week that the property has the highest asking price ever for a home in Anne Arundel County.

The house is a 26,000-square foot, seven-bedroom, 11-fireplace dwelling with eight bathrooms, a tennis court and gorgeous views of the Severn River. There is a three-bedroom guest house on the property and even a chapel.

The Phillips family bought the estate 10 years ago for $2.5 million, according to The Capital.

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TIDBITS: Nalley Fresh opened a 2,685-square foot restaurant at Schilling Green II, 225 Schilling Circle in Hunt Valley recently. Franklin, Whit Levering, Lou Boeri and Ashley Combs of Merritt Properties brokered the deal…Bethany Hobbs recently joined the Maple Lawn office of MacKenzie as a real estate advisor. Hobbs had previously worked in marketing and IT support for Studley, Inc. in Washington…Crab Cake Café will soon open in the Annapolis Technology Park. When it opens later this month, you’ll be able to get a Maryland special, aka crab cake sandwich, at a drive-through window or order at the counter of the 1,329-square foot restaurant located at 2641 Riva Road in Annapolis in a 29-acre mixed-use business community owned by St. John Properties. Crab Cake Café is owned by Jerry’s Seafood and will also feature a New Orleans-style sandwich with spicy andouille sausage, okra, red onion, green bell pepper and a remoulade sauce…Boscov’s will reopen in White Marsh Mall this November. The department store closed four years ago and recently emerged from bankruptcy protection.

Jim Adams, founder of Falls Road Running Store, is the Judge’s Choice Award winner for the National Retail Federation’s “This is Retail” video contest. This is the first year of the NRF’s video contest, which asked retailers to create short videos about the role their businesses play in the economy.

Adams’ son, Andrew Adams, 25, is a filmmaker in Los Angeles. When the younger Adams found out about the contest, he called his dad to encourage him to enter, offering to put together the video.

He called and asked “Would you invest in a round trip ticket to see you and mom for the weekend?” Jim Adams said.

The two worked together on the video concept and the entire process of filming and editing took four days, Jim Adams said.

But working with a professional had its unique challenges.

“It was a lot more complicated than I thought it was going to be. He made me do it over and over again,” Jim Adams said, noting the various humors and more serious takes they filmed.

The NRF received about 100 video submissions and narrowed that list down to 40. Six judges from outside of the NRF, including John S. Rogers, general manager of e-commerce for Baltimore-based Under Armour, scored the top 40, said Ellen Davis, senior vice president of the NRF.

The 20 highest scoring videos moved on to public voting. Adams received the top score from the judges.

“In that span of two minutes, Jim did an incredible job demonstrating how retail powers the rest of the U.S. economy, demonstrating when someone buys a product in his store, what happens next,” Davis said.

Though he doesn’t think the publicity has brought in more customers, “it never hurts to have your name out there,” Adams said.

Adams made it into the top five, but did not advance to the top three. The NRF announced the top three winners earlier this month and will announce the rankings Wednesday at its annual Washington Leadership conference.

Click here to view the embedded video.

That happened to me this past weekend when I flew Southwest from BWI to Dallas.

I’ve flown Southwest before many times, but always on non-stops. These two flights had stops in Birmingham, Ala. We didn’t have to change planes, but we dropped off and picked up.

I know (and Lord knows have edited thousands of stories that say) how quick Southwest’s turnaround time is; that it’s one of the biggest ingredients to its success. But watching it in action is pretty impressive.

We weren’t on the ground in Birmingham for more than 30 minutes. Passengers get off; the flight attendants count the remaining folks and clean up; passengers get on; plane pushes back.

Striking to experience, even though it was something I already knew.

Cutting or demoting players isn’t something Showalter, a major league manager for 14 seasons, enjoys. But he goes in with a plan that could be helpful to all supervisors and human resources professionals, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

The key is to appear confident and comfortable — even if you’re not.

“I make sure I get a good night’s sleep. I make sure I’m clean-shaven,” Showalter told Businessweek. “When they’re sitting across from me, I want them to know that I’ve got a clear head and that it was important to me to give them the time to explain what’s going on.”

The O’s skipper said he asks questions and gives players the opportunity to tell him what they think they did well and in what areas they need improvement.

He also said there’s always someone else in the room with him — a third party that can vouch for what was said in the meeting.

And If things turn ugly, Showalter is ready, too.

“I’ve had a bat within short reach,” he said.

The main takeaways: don’t waffle, encourage engagement and be honest. This is someone’s livelihood you’re talking about, after all.

Hunter, the pitcher who was sent to Triple A Monday, was back in Baltimore by Thursday after starting pitcher Jason Hammel couldn’t make his scheduled start against the Texas Rangers. But he won’t be the last player to be demoted or cut by Showalter, who is managing his second full year in Baltimore.

“I don’t ever want to be good at it,” Showalter said.

What he does want to be good at is managing the Birds to their first winning record since 1997.

With the Orioles sitting at 20-12 and tied for first place in the American League East, it’s so far, so good for the O’s de facto HR expert.

The Helm Foundation this week purchased the former bank that was built in 1855 and is located at 200 E. Redwood St. When completed, the space will be ready for performances of the Bard’s classics, educational programs and community events. Scott Helm, a trustee of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, directs the foundation.

“Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is in its 10th season serving almost 12,000 people every year,” said Ian Gallanar, the company’s founding artistic director. “We are thrilled about our expansion into the thriving Baltimore theater scene. While we will continue to serve our current patrons with outdoor performances at our home stage in Howard County, this second location will broaden our reach and help foster a new community of classical theater enthusiasts.”

Local architectural firm Cho Benn Holback + Associates Inc. is designing the plans using a model of Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre in London.

“The design combines the intimacy of a traditional Elizabethan playhouse with a contemporary sense of design and convenience,” a press release said.

Cho Benn Holback + Associates also designed the performance spaces at the new Everyman Theatre, the James Rouse Center in the American Visionary Art Museum and the Creative Alliance at The Patterson Theater.

Renovations at the Mercantile Trust and Deposit Co. Building will begin in early 2013. The new theater is expected to open in 2014.

“The building’s substantial mezzanine, elaborate and colorful carved ceiling, and Corinthian columns all echo elements of Elizabethan theaters,” says Lesley Malin, managing director of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. “We are enthusiastic about working with Cho Benn Holback to incorporate these beautiful architectural features into a modern-day Globe in downtown Baltimore.”

The recent real estate purchase creates a “theater triangle” in downtown Baltimore between the nearby Hippodrome Theatre and the new Everyman Theatre.

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company will stage an eight-month season downtown and provide after-school and weekend programs for the city drama students. The company has also announced plans to hold an international theater festival at the site, which will attract classical theater companies to Baltimore.

*****

Look for a June 14 auction for a rare 5.2-acre property on the waterfront in Port Covington.

Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co. has scheduled the trustee-ordered auction of the property at 301 East Cromwell Street at 1 p.m. in the offices of Miles & Stockbridge PC located at 10 Light St.

The property is located just off of Interstate 95 and is zoned for multi-purpose use, and the auctioneers say it could hold a combination of retail, office, hotel, commercial, industrial, residential and possibly a marina. The zoning calls for a Planned Unit Development at the site.

*****

Bring your appetite to the 300 block of Charles Street Saturday beginning at noon for the third annual “Let’s Eat! Charles Street Festival” featuring the city’s first sushi food truck, Noodlerolla, owned by James Sin, the former executive chef at Sticky Rice.

The foodie event will feature 40 options for food and retail vendors under tents, including Mick O’Shea’s, The Beef Brothers, Midtown BBQ and Brew, the Brewer’s Art, Urbanite Magazine, The Woman’s Industrial Exchange and MAC Cosmetics. Live music will also be featured — the band Carousel Rogues will play at 4 p.m.

“It’s the best thing to happen to Charles Street since Starbucks,” said Haluk Kantar, owner of Cazbar Restaurant and Lounge. “It’s what puts us on the map, just like a Starbucks does when it opens in a new neighborhood.”

*****

Dorsey Ridge, a new luxury apartment complex near the Arundel Mills mall in Anne Arundel County, was recently opened by Questar Properties.

The apartment community has 561 one, two and three bedroom units and 22 floor plans. Amenities include large, airy floor plans, nine-foot ceilings, fireplaces, kitchen islands, granite countertops, stainless appliances, bamboo wood flooring, premier carpeting and baths with soaking tubs.

*****

TIDBITS: Merritt Properties recently inked a lease with The Link Builders LLC, a search engine optimization company in 1,005-square-feet of office space at 10045 Red Run Blvd. in Owings Mills. The company also recently signed a lease in Columbia for Friends & Farms LLC, an organic farm produce distribution company, at 9305 Gerwig Lane, Suite S. The company will use 4,500 square feet of office and warehouse space. … Melissa Parker has joined Champion Realty as a sales associate in the Annapolis office at 711 Bestgate Rd. Parker’s focus will be residential properties. She previously specialized in new-home sales and sold more than $40 million in homes over three years. … The basketball courts at the Harrison Sykes Brown Playground at Cloverdale reopened this week after being closed for a year for renovations and repairs. The project included renovation of the 1950s field house at the site as well as resurfacing of the playing courts with a new seal coating and game lines. The Coverdale logo for the Cloverdale Basketball Association Community group was painted in the center circle design of the main court for extra community spirit. … Ouzo Bay, the city’s newest Greek restaurant, is expected to open in Harbor East this summer.

More than 85 percent of the 170-plus people surveyed said they would use a “hub,” a communal space for meetings, mentoring and educational programs to connect the area’s entrepreneurs.

The hub would removes barriers “to community and connectivity” and “could not only fill the gaps identified in the survey, but emerge as a new model that measures itself by job generation and wealth creation that is replicable and sustainable,” the report said.

The Alliance also held a town hall meeting with entrepreneurs, investors, attorneys and other community members and professionals.

The $75,000 study was paid for by Baltimore’s Abell Foundation. Burtonsville-based Facility Logix conducted the study and provided recommendations, including how the proposed hub should operate.

You can see the full report here.

Called the “golden triangle,” this small collection of food spots, small businesses and the Towson American Legion Post No. 22 hall is located on the west side of York Road, just north of Burke Avenue. It is prime real estate in the county seat because of the central location.

And that’s where the scrutiny comes in.

DMS Development is pondering a gateway project there, which could include an open-air, California-style mixed-use development of residences, restaurants and retail mainly to attract Towson University students. The firm is seeking a new zoning classification at the site through the county’s comprehensive rezoning process, now underway and slated to wrap up in the early fall.

A few months ago, county’s planners recommended against the rezoning request, which was upheld by the Planning Board. Towson’s representative on the County Council, David Marks, said he will make his decision in June. But he said this week that fears the existing businesses there are endangered are unfounded.

“That’s not going to happen,” he said of the possibility of a total conversion of the site.

While some of the businesses have either sold or discussed selling with DMS, Marks said any further plans do not exist. He said the university once had a vision to build a ballroom at the site, connected to the Marriott next door, “but they have walked” away from that.

“Whatever happens there has to be special,” Marks said. “It’s in the heart of Towson and is a bridge in the university and the retail corridor. Right now, it’s underutilized, it is really key to revitalization.”

Marks said that within three years, the golden triangle site will undergo some change, at very least a gussy up of some of the vacant sites where an eyesore of a flat surface parking lot now sits.

In general, Towson’s development picture these days is a mixed bag.

Just north of the triangle sits a real estate version tale of two cities: The disastrous commercial portion of the Towson Commons still remains vacant while behind the old Hutzler’s building, The Cordish Cos. and Heritage Properties are finalizing plans for the 4.2-acre Towson Circle III project, expected to break ground this summer for a 16-screen Cinemark theater and new retail and restaurants.

*****
Chase Brexton Health Services will soon expand to a total of 13,394 square feet suburban of office space at the Columbia Medical Campus at 5500 Knoll North Dr. at the intersection of Routes 175 and 29.

The nonprofit now offers health services in an 8,121-square foot building, and the new lease signed will add 5,273 square feet to the Howard County facility.

“The Landlord’s ability to accommodate an expansion allows Chase Brexton to service more people in the Columbia area, many of whom do not have access to health care from other sources. With this expansion, Chase Brexton will now have the opportunity to provide additional services to include a pharmacy,” Dan Neumeister, Chase Brexton CEO, said in a statement.

CBRE’s Kim Penny and Laura Westervelt represented building owner, ACC Columbia Medical Campus L.P., and Terri Harrington, of Mackenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, represented Chase Brexton.

*****

The Baltimore Design School, currently a new city middle school with a focus on creative arts and fashion, will break ground Monday at 11 a.m. at 1500 Barclay St. in the city’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District.

The school will be located in the former Lebow Clothing Factory, which is about to undergo a $25 million renovation to convert it into a four-story, 120,000-square-foot space for classrooms, a gallery, computer labs, studios and fabrication suites. The building’s former loading dock will be converted into an outdoor fashion show space, and antique sewing machines found in the building will be part of a permanent display.

State Sen. Catherine Pugh, a local style icon, is the school’s founder and chair of the BDS Board of Directors. Fred Lazarus IV, president of the Maryland Institute College of Art, is the board’s vice chair.

The school, located in temporary quarters in the former Winston Middle School at The Alameda and Beaumont Avenue, is set to open in the new space in the fall of 2013.

Renovations are being funded and overseen by the BDS board, Baltimore City Public Schools and Seawall Development. Ziger/Snead Architects has designed the new space and Southway Builders Inc. is the general contractor.

BDS will add an eighth grade class this August and in the fall 2013, a ninth grade class.

*****

Craftsmen Developers will soon begin a new 108-unit townhouse community in Dundalk called the Townes at North Point.

The 10-acre project will be built at the site of the old North Point Boulevard Drive-in Theater on North Point Blvd. at the corner of Old Battle Grove Road. It is expected to open in late 2013.

*****

This week, Baltimore County welcomed a new nonprofit career development center in Woodlawn.

Herbert J. Hoelter, co-founder and CEO of the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, officially opened the $3 million Career Development Center at 2621 Lord Baltimore Dr. in Woodlawn.

The 19,000-square-foot center will house a career development program including computer-assisted training, for approximately 250 intellectually disabled adults. The facility will employ case managers, employment specialists, psychological associates, job coaches, quality control and compliance officers and vocational instructors.

“Baltimore County is proud to be home to a program dedicated to providing life-changing career training to intellectually disabled individuals,” said Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.

The county helped fund construction with a $2.7 million revenue bond. The National Center on Institutions and Alternatives is eligible for tax exempt federal bonds, and after the county authorizes the bond, it does not incur financial liability, officials said.

*****
This week, the state’s Department of Business and Economic Development launched an online database of available properties in the state.

Called Maryland Business Properties, the listing has more than 400 available commercial, retail or industrial properties and 1,400 buildings available for lease or purchase. It is updated weekly and allows searches by property type, site size, location and zoning and even transit rail options.

“Maryland Business Properties is the latest in a suite of free interactive tools that DBED introduced this year to give our citizens, businesses and economic development partners improved access to information and research, which helps to spur economic activity and create jobs,” DBED Secretary Christian S. Johansson said in a statement. “With this new system, businesses looking to locate to the State or expand to a new site have a simple one-stop search to find their ideal home in Maryland.”

*****
This week, a $5.9 million plan to replace the aging clubhouse at Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club in Columbia was approved by the board of the Columbia Association.

Local architecture and interior design firm Chambers developed the plan. Chambers specializes in private country, golf and city clubs designs.

Construction is expected to begin in 2013 and will take up to 11 months to complete. The project will also include construction of a “turn house” between the ninth and 10th holes complete with restrooms and a snack bar for golfers.

*****
TIDBITS: Shula’s Steak House has closed up grill at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel on Baltimore Street. As first reported this week in The Sun, the south Florida-based restaurant, owned by former Baltimore Colts coach Don Shula, has been replaced with a new venture called “The Restaurant” … On May 19, put on your dancing shoes and head to Towson Town Center where the mall and retailer H&M will sponsor Baby Loves Disco, a “family dance party phenomenon” for kids, parents and even grandparents. The free event begins with DJs spinning “G-rated dance tunes” at 1 p.m. in the Grand Court on level one… Transwestern has recently negotiated a 25,576-square-foot lease between Atapco Properties Inc. and GRAMACO Granite & Marble LLC at 8730 Greenwood Place in Savage. Transwestern’s Tom Gentner, Brian Watts and Mark Glagola represented the landlord, while Brian Siegel, also of Transwestern, represented the tenant … In last week’s blog, it was erroneously reported that Broad Street purchased two Fitness First health clubs in Gaithersburg and Frederick. It was Fitness First that purchased the properties and Broad Street was the broker.

When it reopens around Christmas time, it will have three new theaters, a restored main auditorium complete with comfy chairs, and a tapas café with outdoor seating, all part of a $3 million facelift that is now underway.

The theater closed this week, showing its last film for the spring, “The Hunger Games,” on Thursday, said Kathleen Cusack Lyon, who co-owns the theater with her father, Buzz Cusack.

Lyon said the movie palace, built in the 1939 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will be receiving long-awaited restorations and renovations as created by local design architect Alex Castro. When it reopens, after an expected six to nine-months of construction, it will have smaller theaters for classic films, one of which will seat 120 and two others seating 75 and 70 patrons each.

A new café, to be operated by the owners of Tapas Teatro next to The Charles Theatre in the Station North Arts District, also owned by Lyon and her father, will serve small plate foods and beer and wine in a space formerly used as “the popcorn room” and a now-closed dry cleaners, a Senator employee said. Outdoor seating will be available as the weather permits, Lyon said.

“As far as we’re concerned, it will be a one-of-a-kind theater, a deco theater built in the 1930s and still operating as a movie theater,” Lyon said. “What will make this truly original and a huge asset to the city is that it will be an art deco movie palace that is still playing movies, one of the only ones left in the country.”

Ticket prices will rise a dollar to $10, she added.

Lyon and Cusack received a $300,000 state sustainable communities tax credit from the Maryland Historical Trust this year for the renovations.

The Senator was sold to the city at auction in July 2009 for $810,000 after financial straits by its former owner.

*****

As Baltimore officials continue to attempt to tackle the city’s vacant housing crisis with at least 16,000 abandoned homes, here’s a tale of a Baltimore rowhouse gone bad.

The city’s Board of Estimates this week wiped out all liens, interest and penalties for the vacant and blighted three-story rowhouse at 1816 N. Warwick Ave. in Coppin Heights, a total of $46,714.

That’s because Coppin State University officials say they are planning to add the site into a 10-acre project for a new academic building in west Baltimore.

“The release of liens on the property will make it financially feasible for redevelopment and prevent tax abandonment,” the board’s agenda item states, and the five members, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young, Comptroller Joan Pratt, City Solicitor George Nilson and Department of Public Works Director Alfred H. Foxx, approved it.

Coppin State officials will now purchase the building for $12,300. A Google Maps picture of the address shows a typical Baltimore vacant, boarded-up rowhouse located on an alley with all of its windows broken out and another vacant, boarded-up dwelling next door. State assessment records show 1816 N. Warwick Ave. is owned by Mark Manelli who lives in Reisterstown. Its value is listed at $3,000.

*****

Groundbreaking for the Highland Inn, a new restaurant owned by Milton Inn Executive Chef Brian Boston, is expected to take place Monday in Howard County.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, Council Chairperson Mary Kay Sigaty and members of the Howard County Economic Development Authority will join community members at 12857 Highland Road, off of Route 108 near Ellicott City at 11:30 a.m.

The al fresco, casual restaurant is scheduled to open this summer. The farm-to-table menu will feature entrees, steaks and sandwiches in the price range of up to $30. The 191-seat restaurant will be located in a 150-year-old farmhouse that is being gutted and renovated and will include two original countryside and equestrian-themed murals by local artist Sam Robinson. The restaurant is expected to create 75 new jobs.

*****

The new Federal Hill development set to open in July at 1111 Light Street this week hit 100 percent leasing, officials at MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services said.

The milestone was hit at the 24,000-square-foot Class A mixed use building with tenants M&T Bank, 7-Eleven, Betamore, BTS Software Solutions and Red Owl Analytics.

“Federal Hill was the perfect place for a project of this nature, given its close proximity and ease of access to the central business district, its existing amenities, and its overall walkability,” said Arsh Mirmiran, director of development at Caves Valley Partners, the developer. “We’re pleased that we are matched with tenants who believe in the neighborhood as much as we do. These are exactly the types of leaders and companies we envisioned would find the building attractive and couldn’t be happier to welcome this family of companies to 1111 Light Street.”

The development is located across the street from the historic Cross Street Market.
MacKenzie’s Meghan Gill Roy, Jonathan Di Virgilio and Scott Wingrat represented the landlord in the leasings.

*****

Tidbits: BOMI International recently awarded Manekin LLC’s Ruth Gambino the designation of real property administrator for property management. An assistant property manager for eight years, Gambino helps oversee the management of 36 South Charles St., the 25-story, Class A, high-rise office building in downtown Baltimore. She is also a member of the Building Owners and Managers Association and formerly served as property management coordinator at Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse. Gambino joined Manekin in 2007 … Look for a new Walgreens to open in the coming months on the ground floor of a new parking garage on Ashland Avenue on the East Baltimore Development Inc., site in Middle East … The nonprofit housing advocacy group CPHA will hold a public forum on the proposed closing of city recreation centers on May 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. at War Memorial Plaza. Mayor Rawlings-Blake has proposed some closures and privatization efforts of existing centers as part of citywide budget cuts.

Howard’s Park, a tiny sliver of green near the light rail station on Centre Street, will soon open as an off-leash island for four-footed friends of all sizes. The park will be fenced off this spring and separated into three sections, one for large dogs, one for smaller dogs and a place in between for dog owners to “gather and socialize,” according to a community newsletter from the Mt. Vernon-Belvedere Association.

Planners for the park are hoping to raise an additional $5,000 for the effort to complete construction, the newsletter said. Already, the city, the MVBA and the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy have contributed to the new park.