Canton Crossing development continues to take shape

Construction along Boston Street of the new Canton Crossing development is progressing at a fast pace, with workers molding a new Target, Harris Teeter, Michaels, Old Navy and other stores there that should begin opening in October.

And Chesapeake Real Estate Group’s Neil Tucker said this week that another tenant has been signed: DSW Shoe Warehouse.

The 19,500-square-foot facility on the waterfront will be the first location in Baltimore for the mega store that sells shoes, boots, handbags and accessories.

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Median house prices in Maryland grew by 8 percent in March, state housing officials said this week.

The median home sales price in March was $241,413. That was 23 percent higher than the national average, according to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

In all, median house prices jumped in 17 Maryland jurisdictions, and by more than 20 percent in Allegany, Caroline, and Dorchester counties and Baltimore city.

The state agency also reported that foreclosures in Maryland also are on the rise.

Mortgage servicers kept up an aggressive push to address a backlog of delinquent home loans as the state was one of 15 in the U.S. that showed an increase in foreclosures during March.

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A new corporation — Land Sea Air Manufacturing — was announced this week in Westminster that weds the talents of a former senior programs manager for General Dynamics Corp. with the owner of East Coast Machining Inc.

The company recently leased what’s known in the nearby suburbs as the Knorr building, with 90,000 square feet of office, warehouse and manufacturing space in a $3.5 million deal from Knorr Brake Corp. at 861 Baltimore Blvd. There, it will produce aircraft components for companies like Boeing and Gulfstream, as well as parts for defense contractors.

“We expect to enlarge our workforce to more than 50 employees by year end, as well as significantly improve and expand the engineering, manufacturing, assembly and information technology aspects of the operation and needed space to accommodate these plans,” said Paul J. Virtz, formerly of General Dynamics and now vice president for Land Sea Air. “Conditions are ideal within our industry that presents tremendous opportunities for organizations that are nimble and can react quickly to changing customer requirements. We are working quickly to retro-fit this building and expect to be fully operational in this new space by June.”

East Coast Machining, the company formerly owned by Todd Paul, the new president of Land Sea Air Manufacturing, will soon move from Airport Drive to the new facility. A workforce of more than 50 machinists, sheet metal fabricators and welders will soon be hired.

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Next week, Enterprise Homes Inc., of Columbia, an affordable housing developer, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the 102-unit Greens at Logan Field. The 3-acre site in Dundalk once is the former location of a post-World War I airfield.

The $15.2 million development will include senior housing and consist of 84 one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom apartments. Grimm + Parker Architects Inc. designed the development and Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. is the general contractor. Annapolis-based Habitat America will serve as property manager once the Greens opens.

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A “Day to Play” fundraiser by the Greater Homewood Community Corp. is planned for the city’s Remington community beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Sisson and 29th streets.

Look for old-fashioned games like cornhole, dodgeball, hula hooping, three-legged races and horseshoes at the event that will also offer hot dogs, hamburgers, cotton candy and drinks.

Charm City Cakes and the nearby Baltimore Museum of Art will donate prizes for a scavenger hunt of Remington area businesses. Contact www.greaterhomewood.org for tickets that cost $15 each.

TIDBITS: City officials attended a soggy groundbreaking for a 68,000-square-foot, full-service ShopRite grocery store in Howard Park this week. The event was held amid heavy spring showers … Lawrence F. Twele, CEO and president of the Howard County Economic Development Authority, was recently elected to serve as president of the Maryland Economic Development Association … Want a chance to win a house near Washington for a $100 raffle ticket? A four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath home in Middletown is being auctioned by a couple who are alumni and former athletes at Middletown High School as a way to help the school raise money to renovate its stadium that was built in 1974. The house is worth $475,000. The school’s sports club aims to sell 15,000 tickets at $100 each before the drawing on June 13, 2013 at the Hollow Creek Golf Club. For tickets, call 301-371-3502 … Towson’s newest lunch spot, Big Sue’s Kitchen, has an old-fashioned walk-up window on Allegheny Avenue. The breakfast and lunch specials that include crab cakes and wrap sandwiches have been attracting a steady stream of customers to the former Parker’s grocery.