New Owners

The bargain basement outlet once known as C-Mart has gone through a number of incarnations over the years, briefly shutting down and changing its name. And now the retailer, which once attracted a loyal following of frugal shoppers looking to fulfill their high-end tastes at a deep discount, is going through one of its biggest changes yet. It's getting a new address in Baltimore County after 35 years in Harford County. The old C-Mart, now named Isennocks Big TARP Auction Center and Company Store, is leaving its nearly life-long digs in Forest Hill for Cockeysville.

For decades, the well-heeled and hungry went to the Chesapeake Restaurant at the corner of Charles and Lanvale streets for formally served dinners of charcoal-broiled steaks, unabashedly rich seafood dishes like jumbo crab lumps au gratin and a decadent dessert named the coconut snowball. Nearly 25 years after the doors closed on one of Baltimore's most cherished spots, they're back open now, with a new set of owners hoping Baltimore warms to its 21st-century update, which they're calling The Chesapeake.

The Bayhawks announced the new ownership group made up of president Brendan Kelly , director of corporate sales John Lamon and director of youth sales Chris Kelly . The professional lacrosse team also announced a name change to the Chesapeake Bayhawks. "We wanted to change the team name to encompass the entire region," Brendan Kelly said. "It's important that we touch the markets of Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. We are also going to work to get the youth involved to bridge the connection between the collegiate and professional game."

For 32 years after noted artist Grace Turnbull died in 1976, the house that she built in Guilford in 1928 sat empty, except for a few erstwhile renters - and some squirrels in the roof. Then, in 2008, manufacturing executive Douglas Hamilton III and his wife, Angela, a procurement manager, bought the six-bedroom, five-bath Spanish Colonial with Bermuda influences, in the 200 block of Chancery Road. But the Hamiltons didn't move in until December 2011, because the house, though uniquely artistic, was antiquated, poorly laid out and in ill repair.

For almost as long as the Senator Theatre has been in operation, so has Swallow at the Hollow. The bar/restaurant has been a holdout in Belvedere-Govans since the 1940s, when it was called the Hollow Bar and Grill. Little changed at the corner bar over the years, which prided itself on its modesty and approachability. Until last year, the interior still looked "very '70s," says Aaron Reinhart, a longtime customer. He bought it in February 2011 with the goal of refurbishing the old bar. He's succeeded in some respects: The restaurant does have a fresh coat of paint; there's even a new electronic jukebox.

The prospective new owners of the Baltimore Jewish Times took over Washington Jewish Week nearly two years ago and made an array of changes to the publication, which had just turned 80 years old. They redesigned the tabloid, revamped the website and launched an email newsletter. It's not yet clear if they contemplate similar changes to the Jewish Times, a weekly that has come out every Friday for 93 years. Craig Burke, the publisher of Washington Jewish Week, said he cannot discuss specific plans until he learns more about the Baltimore company, Alter Communications Inc., which also publishes Style magazine.

Don't call the Ivy Bookshop's new owners New Yorkers. Sure, Ed Berlin and his wife Ann have lived in the orbit of Manhattan for more than three decades, working in corporate careers. But they insist they love Baltimore — Ed was raised in Forest Park and the couple often visit friends and family here — and they started making plans to move here this year. Along the way, opportunity knocked. The Ivy in north Baltimore, a haven for literature lovers, was put up for sale in the summer by owner Darielle Linehan, who was ready to retire to spend more time with family.

The San Diego Sockers and the Dallas Sidekicks have come under new ownership and will be treated as new franchises in the 1991-92 season, Major Soccer League commissioner Earl Foreman announced yesterday.Foreman also said the Wichita Wings, who had to meet a 5,000 season ticket sale deadline by 5 p.m. yesterday, reached their goal and are ready to show a letter of credit. Foreman also said the Tacoma Stars are approximately 2,600 season tickets from their goal of 4,000, which they must meet by July 29."

Hoping to make the shopping center a focal point of the community, Cranberry Mall's new owners have given the facility a new name: Westminster Town Mall. "We have a major commitment to the people of Carroll County," said Abe Gelber of Strategic Resources Corp., the new owners. The 525,000-square-foot mall had been on the market about 18 months before it was sold this month by Shopco Regional Malls, the owner since 1988. "We want to make the mall a center of the community, strengthen the local ties to make the mall a focal point of the community and continue to grow the mall while keeping in mind the changing demographics of the community," Gelber said.

I recently got a note from the new owners of a townhouse in the Baltimore area. The house was built in the early 1950s with a slate roof. Before settlement, they said they had a home inspector check the roof and no problems were found. However, after living in the home for a week the new owners discovered a significant leak in the roof. They got an estimate from a slate roof company and learned it would cost about $5,000 to repair. The owners' question was who's responsible, the home inspector for missing the problem or the seller for not disclosing the problem.

UPDATE (Jan. 18): Not so fast. Although the Baltimore Business Journal reported soon-to-be new owner (paperwork still needs to be completed to make it official, he said) Steve O'Donnell would "likely 'keep everything the same'" at J. Patrick's, O'Donnell says that's not the case. During a phone conversation this morning, he said he will likely leave it as an Irish bar, but that "it can't stay open and operate how it is right now. " "Is it going to stay J. Patrick's?

It's easy to see why the city's sale of the Senator Theatre gave Comptroller Joan Pratt heartburn. The city paid $810,000 for the movie palace three years ago and this week sold it for a $310,000 loss. Worse yet, the city is hardly washing its hands of the seemingly snakebit property. It will hold the mortgage — and charge a minuscule 2 percent in interest. The city is putting up an additional $700,000 loan to the theater's new owners, who are also receiving a loan from the state and another from a bank.

Sparrows Point's new owners are setting a three-month deadline for interested parties to bid on the idled steel mill complex — in whole or in pieces. That's slightly longer than the 10 weeks the Baltimore County property was marketed during its previous owner's bankruptcy case. Environmental Liability Transfer, a St. Louis redevelopment company, and liquidation firm Hilco Trading won the bidding in August and closed on the $72.5 million deal earlier this month. Now the complex is for sale again — a turning-point moment that will determine whether steelmaking is part of the site's future or just its past.

Brian Lawrence confirmed that he has been fired as editor-in-chief at Baltimore's STYLE magazine after 10 years in that job. His relationship with the publication actually extended back 20 years, since he served as creative director for Blue Sky Design for a decade while Style was one of its clients. In that capacity, he was essentially the creative director of the magazine before he was named editor. Lawrence declined comment on his departure from the magazine last week. But he said he hoped to stay in the Baltimore-Washington area and was looking for a new position.

One of the first things the new owners of Blue Agave did when they took over was to prop open the front doors. Now when you walk by the Light Street entrance of this Federal Hill restaurant, it looks like a place that's ready for company. Inside, they enlarged the bar area and made some subtle but effective cosmetic changes to the cantina-style dining room. Then they got busy on social media, reassuring Blue Agave's old customers and encouraging new visitors. The new Blue Agave, they said, would keep the classics but introduce something new - fun. The new owners are led by Brian Acquavella, who spent 10 years at the popular Macky's in Ocean City , where the atmosphere, its website says, is "upbeat and laid back.

An Owings Mills-based real estate investment and development group has bought the New Town Village Shopping Center in Owings Mills for $22.5 million, the buyer announced Wednesday. Black Oak Associates, whose investment portfolio contains 13 shopping centers, purchased the Giant Food-anchored shopping area from New Town Village Business Trust, a joint venture of Kimco Realty Corp. and Jones Lang LaSalle, Black Oak said in a statement. The 117,000-square-foot shopping plaza is on Lakeside Boulevard at Groffs Mill Drive.

The new owners of Sherwood Square say they hope to revive the half-empty mall by changing its name.The 50,000-square-foot mall at 15 E. Main St. now is called Winchester Exchange, after the city's founder, William Winchester."

The San Diego Sockers and the Dallas Sidekicks have come under new ownership and will be treated as new franchises in the 1991-92 season, Major Soccer League commissioner Earl Foreman announced yesterday.Foreman also said the Wichita Wings, who had to meet a 5,000 season ticket sale deadline by 5 p.m. yesterday, reached their goal and are ready to show a letter of credit. Foreman also said the Tacoma Stars are approximately 2,600 season tickets from their goal of 4,000, which they must meet by July 29.The new owners of the Sockers are Oscar Ancira Sr. and his son Oscar Jr. who own Delimex, a Mexican frozen food company; VAMSA, the largest investment group in Mexico; and Alejandro Burillo, executive vice president of the Televisa group, which deals with American television affiliates.

Mike Hartnett is one of hundreds laid off from Sparrows Point this month as the steel mill's owner looks for a buyer. He came back Tuesday in search of a Plan B: What to do if the Baltimore County plant closes for good. "This place can make money and we know it," the Dundalk man said. But he can't afford to sit back and assume all will be well. "I've got a daughter in college," he said. Hartnett and dozens of laid-off colleagues met at the Sparrows Point complex Tuesday for the first session of a two-day resource fair, put on by state and local officials to help workers start their job search and connect them with assistance, including food stamps and foreclosure prevention services.

A local grocery chain and a Philadelphia-based nonprofit have opened a ShopRite in Parkville and are employing hundreds of local residents who had been jobless, the grocery store's owner said. "The community has been very positive about the store and about revitalizing an area of Baltimore County that has been underserved," Marshall Klein, chief operating officer of Klein's ShopRite of Maryland, said by phone Tuesday. The 56,000-square-foot ShopRite of Perring Crossing, in the 2400 block of Cleanleigh Drive in Parkville, opened Friday.