Village Of Cross

I COUNT 14 vacancies at Harborplace, eight of them in the Light Street Pavilion and six more on Pratt Street. This, for the alleged crown jewel of the city's first modern renaissance? I count half a dozen vacancies along the ground-level retail area of the Village of Cross Keys. This, for the village shopping area that once bustled with energy and good cheer and high-profile personalities? I count 22 vacancies at the Owings Mills shopping mall. This, for the center that once seemed part shopping mall and part commercial Taj Mahal?

Nearly 35 years have passed since the late developer James W. Rouse broke ground for a mixed-use community in North Baltimore that he intended to be a model for urban living -- the Village of Cross Keys.Next spring, another developer will begin writing the final chapter of Cross Keys when it starts construction of the last housing that can be constructed there.Mark Building Co., a Columbia concern that has worked closely with the Rouse Co. but never before launched a development in Baltimore, unveiled plans yesterday to complete 16 "cluster houses" that will sell for about $300,000 each.

Oprah ate the fried chicken. Howard Cosell came for the breakfast specials. Katharine Hepburn stopped by in scuffed tennis shoes. And the Diner guys, once they outgrew french fries and gravy at the Hilltop Diner, switched their allegiance to the Cross Keys deli.For two decades, the famous noshed with the ordinary at the Village Food Center in North Baltimore's Village of Cross Keys.Retired schoolteachers grabbed a sandwich there after a game of golf. Smartly dressed shoppers took a break from browsing at Nan Duskin and Jones & Jones Inc. Families stood in line for Sunday brunch.

The Village RoostWhere: Cross Keys Inn, Village of Cross KeysHours: Breakfast served 7 a.m.-11 a.m. weekdays, 7 a.m.-noon weekendsCredit cards accepted: Major credit cardsFeatures: Power breakfastNon-smoking section? YesCall: (410) 435-0101Prices: $2-$9.95*** People have been power breakfasting at the Cross Keys Inn's Village Roost for as long as I can remember. The location is convenient -- right off the Jones Falls Expressway -- and you never have to worry about parking. Seats are comfortable, the service is good, the dining rooms are reasonably quiet, and the tables are large enough to spread out your papers for a working breakfast.

The Village of Cross Keys has received a face-lift. The once leaky courtyard of the North Baltimore shopping complex has received a $3-million renovation. The abandoned Bibelot bookstore is about to become home to the posh Elizabeth Arden Red Door day spa and the chic ladies boutique April Cornell. Truffles & Tea, a gourmet tea and chocolate store, has also moved in. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage will soon become neighbors with Talbots. "We feel it's time for people to rediscover Cross Keys," general manager Michelle Schiffer said.

The Village of Cross Keys is a small version of Columbia. A very small version.In many ways, Cross Keys served as a model for the Rouse Co. in the development of Columbia several years later. The concept for both is simple: homes, offices and retail space set in an attractive landscaped setting adjacent to major roads and public transportation.The innovative community -- featuring 700 homes, an inn, bank and 24 stores and offices that are set around a commercial village center -- is bounded on the north by Northern Parkway and the south by the playing fields and buildings of the Polytechnic Institute and Western High School.

The Village of Cross Keys, an upscale North Baltimore shopping center and one of the earliest projects of Columbia founder James W. Rouse, has been sold by General Growth Properties to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., a retail and office property investor, according to a notice to tenants delivered Wednesday. The center on Falls Road is now being managed by Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., according to the memo to retailers from the center's management office. The open-air shopping center has about 30 shops and restaurants, including Williams-Sonoma, Talbots, Ruth Shaw and Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa. Chicago-based General Growth, which owns most of the malls in the Baltimore area, has been selling off noncore assets to boost its balance sheet since emerging from bankruptcy in 2010.

Duskin owner files for Chap. 11The owner of Nan Duskin, a three-store chain that specializes in designer clothing, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Philadelphia.The company, ND Acquisition Inc., has a store at the Village of Cross Keys on Falls Road. It will remain open, and there will be no layoffs, said Louis N. Marks, chairman and chief executive officer of ND Acquisition Inc.The other two stores are in Pennsylvania. The company lists $6.2 million in assets and $6 million in liabilities.

Hundreds of residents and businesses in a 73-acre swath of North Baltimore, including the Village of Cross Keys, were without water most of the day after a main break on Falls Road north of Cold Spring Lane, a city public works spokesman said. The 80-year-old, 10-inch water main ruptured about 10 a.m. in the 4700 block of Falls Road, DPW spokesman Kurt Kocher said. DPW provided bottled water to a ManorCare facility that houses 180 residents, he said. In addition, the 388 homes in the Village of Cross Keys, as well as its 150-bed hotel and many homes in neighborhoods on Falls Road between Cold Spring Lane and Northern Parkway, were affected.

On August 4, 2005 DANA SUZANNE; beloved daughter of John and Nancy Marley; loving sister of Stephen A. Marley; loving granddaughter of Frieda Gustafson; dear niece of Karyl Meece, Garry Marley, Carol Novak and Neil Gustafson; beloved future wife of Matt Unfried. Also survived by numerous cousins. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the Schimunek Funeral Home Inc, at 9705 Belair Rd (Perry Hall) on Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. Funeral Services will be held at St. Michael Lutheran Church on Monday at 11 A.M. Interment St. Michael Lutheran Church Cemetery.