Business

When Michael Moiseyev left New York City a few months ago to run Baltimore’s finance department, he became intimately aware of a major pain point in the city’s real estate market — delays with lien sheets. Those documents, sometimes called lien certificates or lien certs, show whether a property owner owes money to the city. Moiseyev said he bought a condo in the Inner Harbor, with a nice view and in walking distance to City Hall, but it took a few weeks extra to settle all the paperwork. That was due to a backlog of lien sheet requests that has been frustrating the city’s real estate industry since last fall when a few key retirements turned a typically two-week turnaround time into a seven-to-eight-week ordeal, according to industry professionals.

About half of the Bed Bath & Beyond stores in Maryland are slated to close, including three in the Baltimore region, as the retailer adjusts to changing shopping patterns. Stores in Annapolis, Bel Air and Westminster are among dozens of locations the retailer announced it will close in a turnaround plan. Store closing sales are expected to continue over the next few weeks and months, the company said. The big box retailer plans to keep operating about 360 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and an additional 120 stores under the buybuy BABY banner across the U.S.

The Prime Rib is in historic Mt. Vernon to stay. That’s the word from owner Rebecca Dolan who late Thursday signed a 15-year lease to remain at 1101 N. Calvert St. after a couple of years of debate over whether to move the venerable restaurant to the Village of Cross Keys. Lease negotiations took months and will include an interior expansion and $4 million in upgrades and renovations expected to begin in the coming months. Gilbert Trout, principal of Trout Daniel & Associates, brokered the deal for landlord Southern Management. Southern Management owns and manages the Horizon House, a brick tower at Chase and Calvert streets with 220 apartments.

Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. filed a request Friday with state regulators to increase the rate it charges customers for delivery of both gas and electricity over the next three years by an average of 5% a year. The requested rate increase, if approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission, would boost the average customers’ monthly bill by about $31.07 after three years to support spending by the Baltimore-based utility. The rates would take effect Jan. 1. For the utility, which serves 1.3 million electric customers and 700,000 natural gas customers in central Maryland, the filing is the first step in a monthslong public review process requiring commission approval. The commission can approve, reject or, as it often does, scale back BGE’s planned increase.

A joint venture that includes Beltsville-based IVEA Restaurant Group has closed on its $44 million acquisition of the Shops at Congressional Village with plans to bring a host of new tenants to the Rockville Pike retail center. IVEA teamed up with Windfall Group USA, Caspian Group and Pacifica Square USA to cast the winning bid for the Shops after its prior owner, an affiliate of Ronald Cohen Management Co., defaulted on a 2019 loan backed by the property. The sale was recorded with the Montgomery County Circuit Court on Feb. 8. The center was a little more than 60% leased at the time of the auction to a mix of tenants including 84 Lumber, MyEyeDr and a Verizon store, but its new owners say they’ve inked a half-dozen leases combining for around 30,000 square feet in the 99,463-square-foot center at 1701 Rockville Pike.

A decade ago, Jasmine Cox was living with her young son in the Cove Village rental complex in Essex, Maryland, just east of Baltimore, when she started experiencing a plague of problems. The bedroom ceiling started leaking one day, then maggots started coming out of the living room carpet, and then raw sewage started flowing out of the kitchen sink, she said. She stopped cooking to keep food away from the sink. With so much black mold around, her son started needing an inhaler.

Before Alejandra Flores gave birth to her son, Creative Alliance was just a name in their neighborhood. Over a decade later, the Highlandtown-based organization’s classes and events have shaped Joaquin Miller’s young life. From his very first Great Halloween Lantern Parade to after-school programs and weekend art classes, 11-year-old Joaquin has grown up with Creative Alliance.

A few years down the line, when the fresh faces of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez become ever-so-slightly matured, there will come a time when the core that the Orioles have pinned so much of their future on is at a crossroads. Right now, Rutschman, Henderson, Rodriguez and others are relatively cheap stars. They’re the kind of high-upside players to rebuild around, and it’s upon their shoulders that any vision for future winning seasons in Baltimore rest. The dreams and aspirations from fans and those within the clubhouse are warranted. The Orioles have built what appears to be a winner — and not for one year, for several years.