Office Complex

Riggs National Bank of Washington has put the unfinished Redwood Center office complex on the market for $4.5 million, three months after gaining control of it in a foreclosure auction.Riggs chose Manekin Corp. of Baltimore as exclusive sales agent for the complex, which includes an eight-story building at 131 E. Redwood St. and a 12-story building at 26 S. Calvert Street.In an auction last August, Riggs bid $3.8 million to acquire thbuildings, which originally were headquarters for the predecessor to USF&G Corp.

More than a year after announcing plans to build a new government office complex in Ellicott City, Howard County has formally moved to raise money for the project by listing nine surplus properties for sale - with a combined price tag of $8.7 million. The money from the sales is intended to finance development of the 25-acre parcel on Rogers Avenue, not far from the existing office complex, which was built in the early 1970s. Manekin LLC, a commercial real estate broker, is marketing the properties, which range in price from two parcels worth $2 million each to 1.47 acres valued at $175,000.

The Maryland Transit Administration will hold a series of public meetings this week and next to explain its proposed changes to more than a dozen bus routes this August. The MTA is proposing two new "Quick Bus" routes - the No. 43 and the No. 48 - along the path of the existing No. 3 and No. 8 routes. The Quick Bus routes would make fewer stops than the current buses on those routes. With the addition, the No. 3 and No. 8 buses would not arrive as frequently, but many riders' trips would take less time.

Five weeks after the Historic District Commission rejected his plans for an office complex in downtown Ellicott City, developer Michael L. Pfau is back with a new proposal - his fourth for the site. The plans, which the commission is scheduled to hear Oct. 5, call for more buildings - but smaller ones - than the last proposal. Developers who have been turned down by the commission must wait a year before submitting new plans unless they're substantially different. Pfau's new proposal calls for seven buildings that are designed to look like 19th-century houses and would sit off Fels Lane, which is near the quaint businesses of Main Street.

Angered by a proposal to build a $35 million juvenile justice center on Cold Spring Lane community, leaders from area neighborhoods rebuked Baltimore officials at a forum yesterday for what they said was a plan that excluded their input."

How's this for a morning commute? Instead of sweating in Beltway traffic, you cruise across the water on a 57-foot-long floating cafe, sipping coffee under a red and white canvas awning as the sun rises over Baltimore's Inner Harbor. A nonprofit organization will launch a commuter boat shuttle service Tuesday to ferry workers who live along Baltimore's waterfront to appointments and meetings in the growing number of high-technology companies sprouting in former industrial buildings. The first Seaport Taxi pushed off yesterday from the Tide Point office complex in Locust Point, carrying reporters on a tour of office development sites.

Westminster's mayor and Common Council voted last night to place a three-month moratorium on accepting plans to develop two locations on Main Street that are deemed keys to downtown revitalization.Plans for development of the 1934 post office building and the Farmers Supply Co. will have to wait until at least mid-September while a report by Westminster city planners on revitalization of the downtown corridor is completed."As we look at all the sites together, it is important to have the remaining sites be developed in the way we'd like to see happen," said Councilman Gregory Pecoraro.

Baltimore's long-range strategy for the Inner Harbor changed course abruptly this week as prospective developers of several key parcels disclosed decisions that leave the Market Place area in flux.Alex. Brown & Sons executives politely rejected the city's offer of an exclusive 60-day period to study the Pier 4 Power Plant as a headquarters site, but said they would still like a chance to negotiate for the property without preventing others from doing the same.The investment company's refusal to accept exclusive negotiating rights was an indication that its chief executive officer, who expressed interest in the waterfront landmark several months ago, may be cooling to the idea of converting it to offices.

The Army is scheduled to award a contract next month for the construction of a giant office complex at Aberdeen Proving Ground, one of the largest development contracts in Harford County, officials said. The office complex will house a military operation being moved into the county from New Jersey as part of the military base realignment, officials said. "It will be the first major step in the shift of about 10,000 jobs from Fort Monmouth to APG," said James C. Richardson, Harford County's economic development director.

A Glen Burnie dentist found dead in his office had been beaten so badly that police had difficulty identifying him, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday. The body of Dr. Albert Woonho Ro, 51, was discovered Tuesday night at his dental practice at 1414 Crain Highway. According to police, Ro's wife called police from outside the dental office about 10 p.m. She told officers that she could not get in touch with her husband -- his car was on the parking lot, but he was not answering his office phone.