Hunt Valley Mall

LAS VEGAS - Hunt Valley Mall will become Hunt Valley Centre, a hybrid, two-level "power center" with a mix of big box stores, specialty shops and restaurants. Retail developer Starwood Ceruzzi, the struggling mall's new owner, unveiled plans for a $40 million makeover at the International Council of Shopping Centers convention here, giving potential tenants a first glimpse of the project. The Connecticut-based developer bought the North Baltimore County center about a month ago from Equitable Life Assurance Society.

The American shopping experience changed in the second half of the 1900s from one where customers made their way to free-standing stores ranging from ma and pa operations to department stores to one where customers converged on a single destination, that being a mall with an enclosed and largely climate controlled common area surrounded by outlets selling just about anything. Harford Mall was among the early such facilities, given its relatively rural location when it opened 40 years ago in 1972 at the site of what had been a horse racetrack and county fairgrounds.

The Connecticut-based developer buying Hunt Valley Mall has built a reputation recycling obsolete shopping centers in the Northeast. Now Starwood Ceruzzi is moving into the mid-Atlantic and says it sees plenty of potential for its brand of "big box" retailing in Maryland. A year after opening a regional office in Bethesda, the developer has four high-profile Maryland projects in the works. Starwood Ceruzzi expects to close a deal this week to buy Hunt Valley Mall, which has languished half-empty for years.

The developers of Hunt Valley Towne Centre said yesterday that they have signed nearly two dozen new tenants and that the first stores and restaurants will begin opening at the end of the month. Greenberg Commercial, which is redeveloping the center from a depressed enclosed mall to an open-air "Main Street" style market, said the new tenants have leased 90,000 square feet and include national chains and well-known local companies. The first stores will open this month in four free-standing buildings near the front of the mall that Greenberg calls the "fast, casual restaurant corridor."

Six years ago, the Avenue at White Marsh introduced consumers to a non-mall retail experience with a 4,000-seat multiplex theater in a one-street village of restaurants and stores. The project has exceeded all projections, bringing in more than 1.5 million customers annually and serving as a focal point for a burgeoning community. Now developers are banking on creating a similar buzz in Hunt Valley. Open-air shopping centers, also referred to as Main Street or lifestyle centers, are giving retail developers and consumers a new option, according to Anita Kramer, director of retail development for the Urban Land Institute in Washington.

In Baltimore County Man uses bomb threat to rob Allfirst bank in Hunt Valley Mall HUNT VALLEY -- A man who claimed to be carrying a bomb robbed an Allfirst Bank at the Hunt Valley Mall of an unknown amount of money yesterday morning. The man entered the bank on Shawan Road about 11:30 a.m. and told a teller that he had a bomb in his shopping bag and would set off unless the teller gave him cash, said Baltimore County Police Officer Norris McKee. Once the man was given money, he left on foot, leaving the bag at the bank, McKee said.

A Pennsylvania-based commercial developer has become the top landlord of Class A office buildings in Hunt Valley with the purchase of three buildings, including the former offices of PHH Arval's fleet-management business. Liberty Property Trust, based in Malvern, Pa., said yesterday that it bought three buildings just west of Hunt Valley Mall on International Circle for $22.7 million from financial service provider TIAA-CREF, a group of companies that includes Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

The developers of Hunt Valley Towne Centre said yesterday that they have signed nearly two dozen new tenants and that the first stores and restaurants will begin opening at the end of the month. Greenberg Commercial, which is redeveloping the center from a depressed enclosed mall to an open-air "Main Street" style market, said the new tenants have leased 90,000 square feet and include national chains and well-known local companies. The first stores will open this month in four free-standing buildings near the front of the mall that Greenberg calls the "fast, casual restaurant corridor."

The American shopping experience changed in the second half of the 1900s from one where customers made their way to free-standing stores ranging from ma and pa operations to department stores to one where customers converged on a single destination, that being a mall with an enclosed and largely climate controlled common area surrounded by outlets selling just about anything. Harford Mall was among the early such facilities, given its relatively rural location when it opened 40 years ago in 1972 at the site of what had been a horse racetrack and county fairgrounds.

BEL AIR -- What discounts can't do to boost sales in this recessionary economy, perhaps Elvis can.James Newsome Sr., a 25-year-old tree trimmer from Aberdeen, took a day off from work yesterday to catch the opening day of the Elvis Presley Museum on Tour, which is on display through Saturday at Harford Mall.After he finished examining a sampling of authentic Elvis belts, sunglasses and photos, he went into K&K and bought his son James Jr. a toy. Last year, at the first annual Elvis museum display at Harford Mall, Mr. Newsome decided to buy a $35 pair of Reeboks from the Foot Locker there.

A Pennsylvania-based commercial developer has become the top landlord of Class A office buildings in Hunt Valley with the purchase of three buildings, including the former offices of PHH Arval's fleet-management business. Liberty Property Trust, based in Malvern, Pa., said yesterday that it bought three buildings just west of Hunt Valley Mall on International Circle for $22.7 million from financial service provider TIAA-CREF, a group of companies that includes Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

Six years ago, the Avenue at White Marsh introduced consumers to a non-mall retail experience with a 4,000-seat multiplex theater in a one-street village of restaurants and stores. The project has exceeded all projections, bringing in more than 1.5 million customers annually and serving as a focal point for a burgeoning community. Now developers are banking on creating a similar buzz in Hunt Valley. Open-air shopping centers, also referred to as Main Street or lifestyle centers, are giving retail developers and consumers a new option, according to Anita Kramer, director of retail development for the Urban Land Institute in Washington.

At Hunt Valley Mall yesterday, mothers dressed their toddlers in velvet and bows at Sears Portrait Studio trying to beat the Christmas picture rush. A half-dozen teen-age girls giggled as they tried on the most outrageous spike heels they could find at DSW Shoe Warehouse. And moviegoers flocked to Hoyts Cinema for the latest Harry Potter release. It seemed the most typical of days at a typical American shopping mall - except for one big difference. Most of the stores in the northern Baltimore County mall have simply disappeared.

A Baltimore-based retail developer plans to buy the struggling Hunt Valley Mall, demolish part of it and rebuild it into a shopping and entertainment-oriented destination to rival successful projects such as The Avenue at White Marsh. The Erwin L. Greenberg Commercial Corp. said yesterday that it has agreed to purchase the 21-year-old mall in northern Baltimore County from Connecticut-based owner Starwood Ceruzzi for an undisclosed price. The sale could close within several weeks, after which the developer would begin razing the vacant, two-story enclosed portion of the mall, leaving free-standing anchors, said Erwin L. Greenberg, the company's chairman.

In Baltimore County Man uses bomb threat to rob Allfirst bank in Hunt Valley Mall HUNT VALLEY -- A man who claimed to be carrying a bomb robbed an Allfirst Bank at the Hunt Valley Mall of an unknown amount of money yesterday morning. The man entered the bank on Shawan Road about 11:30 a.m. and told a teller that he had a bomb in his shopping bag and would set off unless the teller gave him cash, said Baltimore County Police Officer Norris McKee. Once the man was given money, he left on foot, leaving the bag at the bank, McKee said.

LAS VEGAS - Hunt Valley Mall will become Hunt Valley Centre, a hybrid, two-level "power center" with a mix of big box stores, specialty shops and restaurants. Retail developer Starwood Ceruzzi, the struggling mall's new owner, unveiled plans for a $40 million makeover at the International Council of Shopping Centers convention here, giving potential tenants a first glimpse of the project. The Connecticut-based developer bought the North Baltimore County center about a month ago from Equitable Life Assurance Society.

Late last year the Federal Hill noodle shop Tenosix (1006 Light St.) closed. It reopened a couple of weeks ago as a fine dining restaurant with the same name but a new owner and chef.Several readers have called raving about the food. Thomas Chungsakoon was executive chef at Suburban Country Club for 10 years, with his wife, Penny, as his sous chef. The pair is now in the tiny kitchen of the newly renovated Tenosix, turning out gourmet meals. Don't be surprised, for instance, to find steak with foie gras on the menu.

The presence of demolition crews at Hunt Valley Mall ignited fears yesterday among dozens of merchants worried that they soon will be out of business. Some business owners said they were told by mall managers that they could be evicted as soon as April 30 as part of a plan to demolish most of the mall and replace it with large individual retail stores. If that is true, more than 50 tenants would be left without a home. "The cat is out of the bag," said Brad Seeley, owner of the Club House Deli and a tenant at the mall since it opened in 1981.

The Connecticut-based developer buying Hunt Valley Mall has built a reputation recycling obsolete shopping centers in the Northeast. Now Starwood Ceruzzi is moving into the mid-Atlantic and says it sees plenty of potential for its brand of "big box" retailing in Maryland. A year after opening a regional office in Bethesda, the developer has four high-profile Maryland projects in the works. Starwood Ceruzzi expects to close a deal this week to buy Hunt Valley Mall, which has languished half-empty for years.

A Connecticut-based retail developer has finalized a contract to buy Hunt Valley Mall and expects to close the deal March 31, the manager of the troubled mall said yesterday. Starwood Ceruzzi LLC had said it was negotiating to buy the mall, which has languished half-empty for years as shoppers flocked to newer, more upscale regional malls and many merchants were forced to move out. Representatives of Star- wood Ceruzzi could not be reached yesterday to discuss plans for the center. The sales contract between Starwood and mall owner Equitable Life Assurance Society became final late Friday, said Richard B. Kabat, a senior vice president with Trammell Crow Co., the mall's manager and developer of an initial phase of redevelopment.