Tenants

Always, there were those lovely old country estates and gracious manor taverns with roaring fireplaces, but in the old days fine dining was associated with the city. Not so anymore. Now, there are more compelling reasons than ever for diners to cross county lines for a good meal. The 50 best county restaurants in Howard County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore County is a mix of the old and the new, destinations for special occasions and joints for Monday night suppers, the chef-driven and crowd-pleasing.

No new leases have been announced for Town Centre Laurel — the development that is planned for the site where Laurel Mall once stood — but agreements with tenants already announced have been officially finalized, and the project is said to be on track. The developers of the $130 million project gave City Council members an update at the meeting on Monday night, May 13. Officials with Greenberg Gibbons Commercial, the project's lead developer, said asbestos removal and the demolition work of the existing structure went as planned.

Q: My husband and I are about to buy a house. We are worried what would happen to the house if one of us dies. How can we take title to protect our interests?Janet Rossman,ReisterstownA: There are three forms of ownership when more than one person is involved:* Tenancy in common: Each individual owner has an undivided interest in the property -- that is, if three people each own one-third interest in a property, each owns one-third interest in the entire property. Each owner can sell his or her interest to another person, or will it to an heir.

As we recently celebrated the 45th anniversary of the federal Fair Housing Act, it is significant to note that the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metropolitan regions are among the most segregated in America. Last month, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law recently reported on a study showing that Maryland's public school system is among the most segregated in the nation. The report, conducted by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, revealed that more than half of the state's black students attended schools with minority enrollments between 90 percent and 100 percent during the 2010-2011 school year, up from 33 percent in 1989.

Two more companies have signed leases for space in The Offices at McHenry Row, the first phase of the $117 million McHenry Row mixed-use development in Baltimore's Locust Point neighborhood. Yerman Witman Gaines & Conklin Realty is leasing more than 2,500 square feet of space and Continental Title Group is leasing more than 5,000 square feet. Both are divisions of the Strata Group and will move to McHenry Row in early 2011. Tenants that have already signed leases for commercial space at McHenry Row include the grocery store Harris Teeter, the Greene Turtle restaurant, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, KCI Technologies and marketing communications agency gkv. Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

When a home becomes a job site, tensions between those doing the work and those living with the dust can be unpleasant. But when the contractors and crew who for months had been hammering away at the Monte Verde low-income apartments in West Baltimore showed up at a recent holiday party, they were greeted by the residents as if they were Kris Kringle and his helpers. Standing in the middle of the room, clad in a bright-red plaid sports coat, was Michael T. Shacklette, the lead contractor for the renovation and now a party host.

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has announced two new tenants it said will appeal to travelers looking for healthier options. Be Relax is now offering spa services at a 275-square-foot location in Concourse A and a 1,125-square-foot location in Concourse D. It will offer manicures, pedicures, massages, facials and other services. Jamba Juice has opened a 504-square-foot location in the food court that serves Concourses A and B. The menu at Jamba Juice includes whole-fruit smoothies, juices, teas, wraps, salads and sandwiches.

Incidents of disorderly conduct around Towson have prompted one Baltimore County Council member to propose a crackdown on landlords who allow tenants to cause a "public nuisance." Some community leaders say measures proposed by 5th District County Council member Vince Gardina are a good start in addressing conduct issues, but don't go far enough because they would only affect properties listed under the county's rental registration law — and wouldn't include apartment complexes.

Phillips Seafood, the last of the original Harborplace tenants, is leaving Baltimore's waterfront mall. But it appears the restaurant - once one of the nation's busiest eateries - won't be going far when it closes on Sept. 30. According to a city government source, Phillips is close to signing a deal that would keep the restaurant in the Inner Harbor. Under the plan, Phillips would move less than 1/2 mile away to the site of the old ESPN Zone restaurant, which closed abruptly last June.

When the gas-fired boiler in Samantha Summers' Union Street townhouse broke down on a Saturday in February, leaving her family without heat, she called the landlord.When the toilet in Amy Dixon's Union Village apartment stopped several months ago, she called the landlord.When Rosa Gonzales moved out of Union Village two years ago, she retained the memory of the cockroaches that filled the floor when anyone went downstairs at night and turned on a light. Her daughter, Elizabeth Cotto, translates for Ms. Gonzales, who speaks little English.

A division of the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. has been named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit alleging discriminatory practices at The Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge, a tenant at Cordish's Fourth Street Live! property in Louisville, Ky. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges that the lounge's employees "demanded to know the ratio of 'black people' to 'white people'" who were expected to attend a party, then denied entrance to every black person who showed up. Andre Mulligan, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, is suing Louisville Bourbon LLC (doing business as Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge)

Online listings offered the Northeast Baltimore home for rent at a bargain price. The problem? It's not for rent — it's for sale. And the owners had nothing to do with those ads. This sort of scam proliferates on websites and in rental advertisers, perpetrated by con artists who want to separate renters from their security deposits. Real estate agent Rusty Miller, who represents the owners of the Cedmont home, said his office has fielded more than 100 calls and emails in the past 11/2 months from people interested in renting it — and who fortunately did enough poking around to find his name.

Annapolis settled a tenant dispute Thursday agreeing to pay $82,500 to a pastry shop formerly housed in the Market House. A joint statement from the city and the pastry shop said the deal is the last step in closing "a disappointing" chapter in the history of the city-owned landmark at City Dock. Mayor Joshua Cohen said the settlement will have no effect on the planned spring reopening date. The settlement was reached the same week the civil case filed by Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop, Inc. was to set to go to trial.

A police investigation into how the body of a Charles Village woman ended up badly decomposed in a neighbor's apartment this month will continue after a state medical examiner was unable to determine a cause of death, according to Baltimore police. The body of Kristie Hufnagel, 41, was found July 21 in an apartment at 123 W. 29th Street, after police entered the apartment following the arrest of its lease holder, Marvin White, 67, on drug charges, said Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman.

Apartment rents keep heading up. The average effective rent for Class A apartments in the Baltimore metro area -- the nicer properties with amenities -- rose 5.7 percent in the last year to just under $1,450 a month, according to real estate research firm Delta Associates. The big increase was in the city, up 6.7 percent -- more than double the annual average for the past five years. Effective rents in the Baltimore suburbs grew by a more modest 3.5 percent, just a hair more than the average, Delta said.

The luxury wing of Towson Town Center will get its biggest influx of new or relocated stores since the upscale addition opened nearly four years ago, with cooking shop Sur La Table and resort-wear retailer Lilly Pulitzer among those planning to open by late August. Other tenants unveiled by mall managers on Wednesday include Marbles: The Brain Store —specializing in games, puzzles and books — and L'Occitane —offering fragrances and personal-care products. Both will open in August.

IT'S LONG BEEN ROSE Gallucio's thinking that the whole world needn't know if the government subsidizes your rent.The apartment manager's influence clearly shows at Hanover Square, a red brick high-rise for the elderly overlooking the Inner Harbor and Camden Yards. Nothing about the look of the place - with tree-shaded patios, quiet hallways in muted mauves, a tastefully done community lounge - says rental assistance.But without the government paying all but 30 percent of their rent, the former housekeepers, cabdrivers and secretaries who are Gallucio's tenants could not have afforded such a home for their retirement years.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke proposed changes to the city charter yesterday that would open up confidential landlord registration files, giving tenants in run-down Baltimore properties an opportunity to locate and confront their landlords.After touring a West Baltimore rowhouse described by the mayor as not fit for habitation, he held a press conference to make his proposals. The changes in the city housing code would enable tenants to obtain their landlords' telephone numbers and could speed up prosecution of those who are negligent.

Donna's not returning to Park Plaza Donna's isn't coming back to the Park Plaza building. Neither are Indigma or My Thai, the other former restaurant tenants of the Mount Vernon property that was damaged in a December 2010 fire.  The news, not unexpected, was announced in a press release from the Time Group and WPM Real Estate Group, its property management arm. The Park Plaza is now owned in part by Connie Caplan and her son, Mark...

With the ongoing development east of the Inner Harbor, the expanding suburbs in Baltimore and Howard counties and the tried-and-true appeal of downtown, the Baltimore metro region has corporate real estate for every tenant's taste and need. All of those options can be overwhelming, says Daniel J. Shapiro, who aims to become a vital member of Baltimore's business community by helping companies figure out what they want and require from commercial space. "Real estate should not be an afterthought.