Grand opening for Arbors

This week, the Arbors at Baltimore Crossroads held its grand opening.

The ribbon was cut on the 365-unit luxury market-rate rental apartment home community contained within the 1,000-acre Baltimore Crossroads@95 development near White Marsh.

Present at the celebration were Del. Pat McDonogh, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, Somerset Construction Co., official Mike Caruthers and former Congressman and House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt.

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The Citizens Planning and Housing Association’s 70th Annual Meeting will be held on Nov. 29 in the Schaefer Room of the Fifth Regiment Armory at Howard and Preston Streets.

Urban affairs expert Paul Brophy will be a presenter. Brophy is co-author of a recent report called Reinventing America’s Legacy Cities: Strategies for Cities Losing Population. His presentation will be followed by a panel discussion.

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Rouse Properties Inc., the newly formed company that contains malls once held by the restructured General Growth Properties Inc., announced Friday that Andrew Silberfein will be its the first president and chief executive officer.

The 47-year-old is executive vice president of retail and finance for Forest City Ratner Companies. There, he oversees the company’s more than five million square feet of retail, a portfolio that totals $2.2 billion.

The newly formed Rouse Properties portfolio holds 30 regional malls in 19 states that total more than 21 million square feet. Some of those properties include Lakeland Square in Lakeland, Fla., The Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas and the North Plains Mall in Clovis, N.M.

Silberfein has more than 20 years of retail real estate experience, with extensive experience in leasing, financing, development and asset management.

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If you’re looking for a real estate-related gift this season, check out the city skyline ornament at Zelda Zen in Federal Hill.

This miniature version of some of Charm City’s best developments, the National Aquarium, the Power Plant and the Domino Sugar plant, is offset by a jolly crab.

It could become the “it” gift of the season. And it’s just $20.

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More scoop on retail: If you’re too bleary-eyed to navigate midnight at the mall on Black Friday, check your email, Twitter or Facebook page.

The Towson Town Center is now wired.

This week, Rebecca Klein became the Towson Town Center’s shopping GURU — a modern-day retail social media guinea pig.

This 39-year-old mother of two lives near the mall and is a freelance writer in her real life. She just signed on for the experimental program being rolled out by General Growth Properties, owners of the  mall.

As GURU, which stands for get ultimate retail updates, Klein will regularly cruise all shops in the mall and blast specials and cute finds via social media on platforms small and large.

For her efforts, the mall has given her an iPad and a flip camera. The gig will last at least two months.

“It’s my job to go out there and give people ideas of what they can find,” she said this week, her first on the job. “I see myself as a problem solver for people.”

Getting started has been a bit slow. This week, she tweeted an area of the mall where she was stationed and advised shoppers to stop by between 1 and 2:30 p.m. for a free appetizer coupon at P.F. Chang’s.

Nobody showed, she reported.

Nevertheless, she remains upbeat that her GURU mission will take hold.

Friday, the mall is hosting a meet and greet where she will talk about her shopping assignment. And she will be on hand when Santa arrives on Nov. 25.

As for Black Friday, Klein admitted it will be the first time ever that she will partake in the annual retail madness, which kicks off this year in many stores at 10 p.m. or midnight.

“I don’t know what time I’ll be there, but I will definitely be there early,” she said.

Check out her blog at www.towsontowncenterguru.com.

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TIDBITS: Towson University won five awards this month at the Building Congress and Exchange of Metropolitan Baltimore event. The awards included projects that highlighted woodworking, tile and metals. .. Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz announced this week that the county has once again earned a Triple A bond rating from the three major rating agencies, Fitch, Standard and Poor’s, and Moody’s Investment Service. … The exclusive, staid Elkridge Club on North Charles Street is embarking on an upgrade of its facilities, Citybizlist reported this week. Each of the 1,200 members could be asked to pony up $1,300 to help with the renovations that include new locker rooms, a gussied-up ballroom and new outdoor deck. … The Four Seasons Hotel officially opened this week with a pre-holiday celebration. The $200 million development is the city’s latest luxury digs. Chefs in the restaurant, Wit and Wisdom, report they are perfecting the art of comfort food, among other offerings on the menu. They have focused on a simple but elegant roasted chicken entrée, for which they want to be best known. … Across the Inner Harbor, another kind of comfort food will be offered at the new location of the local Grilled Cheese & Co. restaurant, to open this week near the Cross Street Market on South Charles Street. The menu includes an original “grilled to perfection” cheese sandwich for $4.99, a Kick’n BBQ Chicken sandwich for $6.99 and a Crabby Melt grilled cheese with crab claw meat for $7.49.