Harbor Bank

One of the early architectural gems of Baltimore's Charles Center renewal area has been polished and returned to use this spring after years of neglect.The former Vermont Federal building at 25 W. Fayette St., dormant since the now-defunct thrift moved out and sold the building six years ago, has been reborn as the Harbor Bank Building, new headquarters of the Harbor Bank of Maryland.The bank's downtown branch began operating from the building's first floor last month, and loan officers and executives will occupy the second and third floors by July.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta has agreed to provide $1.3 million to fund affordable housing projects in Baltimore and Cecil County, Maryland's U.S. senators announced Wednesday. "As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have fought to put funds in the federal checkbook to develop affordable housing," Senator Barbara Mikulski said in a joint statement with Senator Ben Cardin. Developers will work with local member institutions of the Atlanta-based community development bank to construct or renovate 128 residential units, the senators said.

With the sale of its Essex branch, Irvington Federal Savings and Loan Association of Baltimore said it is now in compliance with two of three federal capital requirements."

EC to discuss union's futureThe European Commission will meet today to discuss ways to keep economic and monetary cooperation alive following the virtual collapse of Europe's exchange rate system.In a special session, the European Community's executive body will also consider how to get the 12-nation grouping moving toward a single currency and central bank, cornerstones of the Maastricht Treaty on closer economic and political union, the EC said yesterday.U.S., Canada settle trade disputeThe United States and Canada settled a 5-year-old trade dispute yesterday that had threatened to result in sharply higher prices for imported Canadian beer.

With the sale of its Essex branch, Irvington Federal Savings and Loan Association of Baltimore today said it is now in compliance with two of three federal capital requirements."

New positions Callahan takes position with Hopkins Real Estate The Johns Hopkins University announced the appointment of James A. Callahan as director of leasing and asset management in the office of Johns Hopkins Real Estate. He is responsible for property-leasing activities, management, acquisitions and dispositions for both Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System. Formerly a vice president with Columbia-based Constellation Real Estate Inc., the Lutherville resident is a graduate of Washington College.

Manjusree `Dipu' Basu, 43, officer at Harbor BankServices were held Tuesday for Manjusree "Dipu" Basu, 43, a Baltimore banker and Woodlawn resident.Mrs. Basu, who was an assistant vice president at Harbor Bank of Maryland, took her own life Saturday . She had been suffering from bipolar disorder.She joined the bank as a teller in 1986 and was promoted several years ago to assistant vice president.The former Manjusree Roy was born and raised in Calcutta, India, where she graduated from high school.

Vehicle assembler prospective occupant of Cox Creek siteUAZ of America Inc., a Dulles, Va.-based company that assembles Russian jeeps, is a leading prospect in joint efforts by state and Anne Arundel County officials to attract a manufacturer to the former Cox Creek Refining Co. site in Pasadena.In March, the Maryland Port Administration bought the 167-acre site for $1.6 million from the Mitsubishi Corp., the parent company of the defunct Cox Creek Refining Co. The property contains a 600,000-square-foot manufacturing or warehouse building.

A Baltimore man was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for armed bank robbery, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland said Friday. Randolph Burke Wells, 46, signed a plea agreement with the government for the armed robbery last October of the Harbor Bank of Maryland on W. Fayette Street. Wells was given more than $3,500 in cash after pointing a gun at a teller, the government said. Wells was on supervised release for a previous federal bank robbery conviction when he was arrested last fall.

When Ideal Bank opened in 1920, it did business for two hours one day a week - on Thursday evenings when the domestic servants had time off. In an era when blacks couldn't bank at white-owned institutions, Ideal was a place where they could apply for a home mortgage or open a savings account. For years, the bank on Druid Hill Avenue prospered, and in 1962 began offering full-time banking hours. But after decades of prosperity, times have changed for Ideal and other black-owned banking institutions.