Condominium

When developers began construction on the Four Seasons hotel and condominium tower in Harbor East early last year, it was shaping up to be one of Baltimore's tallest buildings, at 43 stories. But earlier this year, the development team announced plans to complete only 18 stories, delaying condominium construction until the residential real estate market improves. That means the waterfront tower won't set a city height record any time soon. Elsewhere in Baltimore, projects representing a proposed investment of more than $1 billion have been postponed, scaled back or scrapped altogether.

When Lindsay Major Ringgold returns to her Elkridge condominium each day, the sight of a modest American flag on the patio of her first-floor unit gives her comfort. Along with a large yellow ribbon tied to a tree nearby, the flag is a poignant reminder of her husband, Sgt. James Ringgold, a member of the Army Reserve serving in Iraq. "It makes me think of him," she said, explaining her emotional attachment to the fraying flag that has flown since August 2006, just after the couple bought the unit and were married.

Leslie Spencer and Jennie Moser, both 26, were too busy with their teaching duties to attend the Howard County housing event that awarded each the right to buy a new, discounted two-bedroom condominium in Elkridge, but their parents stepped in for them. "This was perfect, especially with the gas prices," said Carolyn Spencer, Leslie's mother, at the county housing department ceremony Wednesday afternoon. The young teacher lives in Ellicott City with her parents. She wanted to buy a place of her own, "but on a teacher's salary, she didn't think it was affordable," her mother said.

People with limited incomes who want to buy or rent a home in Howard County will have another chance Saturday at a county-sponsored housing fair at Long Reach High School. Two Elkridge houses, one apartment condominium in Columbia, and one rental townhouse in North Laurel - all newly renovated - are to be awarded to qualified buyers at the event, which kicks off preparations for a new round of home purchases in May under the county's Moderate Income Housing Unit program. The county is trying to build a list of pre-qualified buyers it can use whenever new MIHU homes become available.

The Colonnade is home to many condos, but not many like the one owned by Rosemary Nicolosi of Baltimore. The building itself, located in the Tuscany-Canterbury neighborhood, is from the 1980s and its units typically reflect '80s interior design, including white carpet and plenty of marble. But Nicolosi tossed all of that out the window when she bought her condo a few years ago. "She re-did everything," says Realtor Kelly Stucker of Yerman, Witman, Gaines and Garceau LLC. "It took a year to finish it."

Robert H. Grabner Jr., vice president/senior project manager of the tower division of WCI Mid-Atlantic U.S. Region Inc., has assumed responsibility of the Plaza Residences development, a 23-story tower planned for downtown Columbia. Grabner replaces William Rowe, who recently left WCI to work with another development firm in the area. Grabner will also be responsible for WCI's tower development activities in Virginia, which include the Club on Quincy, a mixed-use condominium development in Arlington.

The Maryland Commission on Human Relations has ruled that a condominium board's decision to prevent residents from using a rear door as a shortcut to an adjacent synagogue discriminates against a disabled resident. The decision stems from a complaint filed by Sylvan Wolpert, a 90-year-old physically disabled resident of the Imperial Condominium complex in Northwest Baltimore who uses a walker to get around. Wolpert and other Orthodox Jewish residents in the building had previously been able to use a rear fire door in the basement to get to the nearby Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation synagogue.

A fire that broke out in a Forest Hill condominium complex yesterday displaced more than a dozen families and injured two firefighters before it was brought under control, Harford County authorities said. There were no reports of injuries among residents of the building, a fire official said The fire broke out in a section of The Pond condominiums, a complex in the 1700 block of Landmark Drive, off Route 24, authorities said. Fire rescue crews received a report of the fire at 12:48 p.m., and found heavy smoke and fire coming from the third story of a building that has 12 residential units, according to Dave Williams, spokesman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association.

The residents of a Pikesville condominium complex that was evacuated Monday were allowed to return to their homes last night, after additional steel supports were installed to prevent the 43-year-old building from collapsing. Residents returned to the building about 8:50 p.m. after crews worked to shore up the structure and compensate for deteriorating columns that were discovered on Monday afternoon. Harriet Young had stayed with her daughter in White Marsh. "I couldn't wait to come home," she said.

After identifying the victims by their fingerprints, Harford County police released yesterday the names of two men found shot to death in an Edgewood condominium a week ago. The victims were brothers Randolph Mendon Goodson, 30, and Waverly Corey Lewis, 19, New York City natives who had lived together in Harford for about a year, police said. Investigators have yet to determine a motive but said the men were "specific targets." "We cannot divulge how we determined that, but we are certain that they were specifically targeted," said Robert B. Thomas Jr., sheriff's spokesman.