Business

A popular retail center in Harford County has changed hands. The Festival at Bel Air shopping center was sold recently to an affiliate of McLean, Virginia-based Rappaport Properties for an undisclosed price. The seller was Dallas-based CH Realty Bel Air Festival LLC, according to state records. The complex last sold in 2014 for $113 million. The center is located off Route 24 and has anchors that include ShopRite, Marshalls, Burlington, Petco and Kohl’s. Of the 60 retail spaces, only about 11,000 square feet is vacant, Rappaport officials said Thursday.

The PGA Tour’s upcoming 2022 Wells Fargo Championship will generate about $28 million of economic output for Montgomery County, according to a new report. The Wells Fargo tournament is scheduled to take place May 5-8 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Visitor spending from the 2022 event “that would not have occurred but for the tournament” is forecasted at more than $17 million, mostly from overnighters who would buy lodging, entertainment, gas, etc., according to an assessment prepared by Baltimore’s Sage Policy Group Inc. commissioned by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp., among other organizations. Operational and capital spending to prepare the venue is forecast to generate another $11 million in economic activity.

A local investor has acquired a mid-sized office tower in Mount Vernon for $1.92 million with plans to modernize the structure in the coming year or so. Investor David Lapides recently acquired the so-called Cokesbury Building at 516 N. Charles St. through his Corner Ventures LLC. Lapides owns several office and residential properties in the midtown and Station North communities and said Thursday he plans to upgrade the site’s infrastructure.

With plans to expand its workforce by about 100 employees and build a fleet of 12 ships for a major domestic cruise line, Chesapeake Shipbuilding seems to be setting sail for significant growth. The company, which builds and designs commercial ships, has been based in Salisbury since the shipyard’s founding in 1980. Originally founded by the late Charles A. Robertson, who went on to later found Chesapeake Shipbuilding’s frequent collaborator, American Cruise Lines, the company is now helmed by President Steven McGee, who is working to make the shipbuilding operation more efficient.

On her second day on the job as the new executive director at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, Jackie Coleman was introduced to one of the biggest art events in Annapolis. Between unpacking her belongings after moving from Connecticut, Coleman attended the opening night of the Annapolis Film Festival on March 31 and later caught a showing of a documentary about soul and pop singer Dionne Warwick.

As Ocean City’s hospitality industry gears up for another strenuous summer season, business owners are on the prowl for potential new hires. The resort town is no stranger to severe labor shortages. For the past two years, many businesses, both big and small, have struggled to recruit and retain seasonal employees.

Constellation Energy, the Baltimore-based energy producer, has become one of the latest companies targeted by Canadian firm TRC Capital Investment Corp. with a share purchase offer at a below-market price. The energy company urged investors Wednesday to reject the investment firm’s so-called “mini-tender” offer. Such offers typically seek to acquire less than 5% of a company’s outstanding shares and avoid some federal securities regulations.

A federal appeals court Wednesday revived a Bethesda-based software company’s bid to receive compensation from a former product development director who misappropriated trade secrets and breached his employment contract by retaining documents after leaving the firm. In its published decision, the 4th Circuit said the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt must calculate any damages Diego de Amezaga owes for having breached his contract with AirFacts Inc., which develops and licenses revenue accounting software for the airline industry.