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Morgan Properties buys another Maryland apartment complex

Morgan Properties buys Orchard Meadows in Ellicott City (Morgan Properties)

Morgan Properties, the Pennsylvania–based real estate investment and management company, continues to add to its portfolio of apartment complexes with its $50 million purchase of Orchard Meadows in Ellicott City.

The firm bought the 240-unit community in Ellicott City from Azure Partners LLC and plans $2 million in interior and exterior renovations. It plans to upgrade kitchens and add a putting green, playground and dog park, among other upgrades.

Morgan Properties, based in King of Prussia, is one of the nation’s and Maryland’s largest apartment owners. It has a portfolio comprised of 150 complexes with more than 45,000 units primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region, including 60 complexes in the Maryland-Washington corridor.

Morgan partnered with Core Real Estate Partners on the latest purchase.

meredith.cohn@baltsun.com

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Additional Information About 2305 Monticello Rd, Baltimore, MD 21216

2305 Monticello Rd, Baltimore, MD 21216 2305 Monticello Rd, Baltimore, MD 21216

2305 Monticello Rd, Baltimore, MD 21216 is a single family home for sale, and has been listed on the market for 1 day. 2305 Monticello Rd is in the Windsor Hills neighborhood, which has a median listing price of $219,999. The median listing price for Windsor Hills is 7% greater than Baltimore at $189,900, and 33% less than MD at $309,000. Nearby neighborhoods like Northwestern Baltimore, Southwestern Baltimore, Northern Baltimore, and Northeastern Baltimore have a median listing price of $205,000. The schools near 2305 Monticello Rd include Windsor Hills Elementary School, Bluford Drew Jemison Stem Academy West School, and K.A.S.A. (Knowledge And Success Academy) School, which are all in the SchoolDistrictName: Baltimore City Public Schools. There are similar and nearby single family homes for sale include 4705 Wakefield Rd, 3913 Carlisle Ave, and 3415 Springdale Ave.

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Maryland candidate for governor releases Baltimore plan

BALTIMORE — A Democratic candidate for governor of Maryland has released a plan to help the state’s largest city.

Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker released his “Uplift Baltimore” plan on Wednesday. It’s a proposed city-state partnership to identify and customize programs to help communities hardest hit by crime, health, housing and employment challenges.

Baker, who is running in a crowded Democratic primary, is describing it as the first comprehensive proposal to help Baltimore in the campaign.

Baker says Baltimore is the economic center for the state, and every state resident should be rooting for the city’s success.

His seven-page proposal includes plans to try to bring back the $3-billion Red Line light rail project in the city that was scrapped by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

Maryland’s primary is June 26.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Todd Lubar Explains Current Real Estate Trends in Baltimore

Baltimore is known as the Charm City, and it is certainly full of charm as far as young professionals are concerned. While it may seem like Baltimore is losing numbers in terms of total population, it is actually doing amazingly well with the younger demographic and is projected to continue along that path. The rate at which the economy continues to rebound will factor heavily into how far we see this trend play out down the road.

Given the strong presence of young professionals in this city, there is high demand for more apartment options. There have been some major developments in which real estate developers and their teams are turning older buildings into refurbished and hip living options for city residents. This has produced a large number of apartment and condominium options.

Baltimore seems focused right now on improving and expanding public transportation. This will go far in making the city even friendlier to those who work and want to live downtown. Some are projecting that this will even grow the greater metropolitan areas at a faster rate because more suburban dwellers will be able to access the city for work without having to pay for parking as an added expense.

The business community is starting to blossom in Baltimore. There have been plenty of initiatives across the state to improve the business environment for companies looking to relocate and those considering opening their doors. This has filtered down to the city level, where start-up companies are already doing quite well. Baltimore has gained a favorable reputation in the business community in recent years for being very supportive of new businesses and attracting top talent from the surrounding areas to help grow the companies.

Cost of living is not expected to rise significantly in the city, which will help make it a more palatable option for those unable to afford a Washington, D.C. lifestyle. However, the new housing developments for young professionals will include more amenities than lifelong city residents are probably used to. Real estate developers are now catering to a younger crowd that expects to be able to work and play in relative proximity. There is a strong push to keep young professionals engaged in their city communities by providing quick and easy access to fresh restaurants and luxury shopping. Even though these options are slated to spring up around the newer housing options, there are still plenty of affordable options for families and solidly middle-class residents. The diversity of housing options is one of the major reasons that developers are not overly concerned about statistics showing an overall decline in the number of permanent residents inside the city limits.

Todd Lubar’s Impressive Mark on the Real Estate Industry

Todd Lubar has been involved in some capacity in the real estate market in Maryland for more than two decades. He also has a background in credit and finance, which puts Lubar in a great position to help those on both sides of the equation in their next real estate deal. Currently, Lubar serves as the President of TDL Ventures and is focused on expanding the company to new levels.

Lubar also owns and operates various companies related to real estate, including a demolition company. He relies on a strong background in sales as one of the top mortgage originators in the nation to keep improving his bottom line. Lubar has always been passionate about business and helping other sin his community. He looks forward to expanding his presence in the Baltimore area as a business owner and community volunteer.

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Columbia Business Center sold for $25.6 million

Columbia Business Center sold to real estate investors. (Feldman Bergin Properties and Fortified Property Group)

The Washington, D.C.-based real estate development and investment firm Feldman Bergin Properties has joined with the boutique real estate investment and advisory firm Fortified Property Group to acquire the Columbia Business Center, a nine-building mixed-use complex that includes office, laboratory, research and development and retail space.

The partnership acquired the Dobbin Road complex in Columbia from a unit of Greenfield Partners LLC, a Westport, Conn.-based real estate investment firm, for $25.6 million. Greenfield bought the complex in 2012 for $25.1 million, according to state property records

It is the partnership’s 13th acquisition in Howard County since 2017.

Bob Bergin, co-founder and principal of Feldman Bergin, said in a statement that the partnership’s “critical mass” of properties makes asset management more cost-efficient and allows swift response to expansion and relocation needs.

The buildings in the complex date to the mid-1980s and are 84 percent leased to companies including Chiron Technology Services, DSM Nutritional Products, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, Sherwin-Williams and Sushi King.

Exterior improvements and upgrades to amenities are planned for the complex.

Don Schline of MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services represented Greenfield Partners in the sale. NAI KLNB will handle the complex’s marketing and leasing responsibilities for the acquiring partnership. MacKenzie will provide asset management services.

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Apartments that are located at ideal locations in Baltimore MD can be given more value as compared dummy post

Apartments that are located at ideal locations in Baltimore MD can be given more value as compared to the ones that are not ideally located. Similarly, you need to look for those apartments that are having an ideal size as per the requirements of your family. People usually think that leasing one bedroom apartments in Baltimore won’t be ideal because they might be smaller in size. This conception of the people is completely wrong because there are many 1-bedroom apartments in this city that are great as far as their overall sizes are concerned. You may be able to find some of the 1-bedrooms apartments that can be even better than the apartment with 2-bedrooms. That’s why you shouldn’t believe on such wrong conceptions about 1-bedroom apartments that are available in Baltimore. There are some great apartments that are lavish and special when it comes to facilities, and those apartments can be ideally perfect for you and your family. dummyn post

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Maryland nominates 149 ‘Opportunity Zones’ to get special investment tax treatment under new federal law

State officials announced Friday that they have selected 149 low-income areas around the state to get special investment benefits under the federal tax overhaul that passed last year.

Investors would be able to money into housing and businesses in the so-called “Opportunity Zones” and pay less tax on any capital gains. The program is only a small piece of the huge federal tax law that the Republican Congress passed last year in Washington, but federal and state officials think it could have a big impact in struggling communities.

State Housing Secretary Kenneth Holt said the zones “will be a game-changer for Maryland.”

“I’m excited to establish these zones and further leverage private, nonprofit and public sector funds, providing new opportunities for housing, retail and business growth to fuel the state’s economic engine and create jobs,” Holt said in a statement.

While supporters of the idea say it will draw capital into areas that are struggling, some analysts have cautioned that it will fuel gentrification and lead to money flowing into neighborhoods that have already started to take off as investors seek to maximize their gains.

The zones, which have to be approved by the U.S. Treasury Department, are scattered across the state.

Much of East and West Baltimore has been nominated. So has Park Heights and huge swathes of south Baltimore including parts of Port Covington, where Under Armour founder Kevin Plank has proposed building a mixed-use project from scratch.

In addition, the zones would be established around Fort Meade, Aberdeen Proving Ground and the Indian Head naval facility. The state also has targeted an area of Montgomery County near where it wants to locate Amazon’s second headquarters and parts of Cecil County where officials are encouraging distribution centers to open up.

Remote parts of the state also would stand to benefit, with the state picking large parts of Garrett and Somerset counties to be zones.

Michael White, chief of staff at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, said officials sought to choose areas where other programs are already available to investors in the hope of making them especially attractive. White said officials consulted with local politicians, developers and others with a stake in the program.

“We were really trying to look at areas that would get real investment,” he said.

Investors who put their money into the zones and don’t cash out their investment for 10 years would avoid paying capital gains tax on any increase in value. They also would be able to put money that hey currently face having to pay capital gains tax on into the zones to gain additional benefits.

An example provided by the Economic Innovation Group, a think tank that supports the idea, indicates investors could make significant gains. Someone who put $100 of unrealized capital gains into an Opportunity Zone this year and left it there for 10 years would stand to get $176 back compared to $132 if they invested in stocks.

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Downtown Baltimore’s Luxurious Metamorphosis

Donald Fry

Baltimore’s downtown is going through a massive transformation, with developers reimagining the city’s skyline by converting old office buildings into residential towers. Due to the metro’s strict historic preservation laws, most of these changes result in assets that integrate the city’s past and present. In the last few years, thousands of new units have come online in the city’s urban core area, catering to residents that want to walk or bike to work.

After decades of stagnation, transformation in the city really began once an adjustment to the city’s legislation was made, driving the revitalization of Charm City’s downtown appeal. With strong market demand, the city approved in 2014 a 15-year tax credit for developers seeking to convert underutilized office space into residential units. As part of the deal, developers would not have to pay property taxes in the first two years. A development boom began soon after, with many bank buildings constructed in the early 1900s now transformed into luxury apartments that are rapidly filling up.

One of the best examples illustrating this trend is 10 Light St., a 34-story landmark of downtown Baltimore that was originally constructed for the U.S. Customs Service and dubbed The Appraisers’ Building. Located two blocks from the Inner Harbor, the LEED-certified Art Deco building preserves unique architectural features and includes more than 400 luxury apartments. The Lenore, The Vault and 36 Calvert also used to be office buildings. To learn more about this conversion trend, Multi-Housing News spoke with Donald Fry, president & CEO of Greater Baltimore Committee, an organization that includes more than 500 businesses, nonprofits and educational and civic institutions.

How have developers managed to maintain historic buildings unique features while converting them to residential projects?

Donald Fry: In Baltimore, we value our history and our historic architecture, and developers are finding both to be very valuable for attracting renters looking for a truly urban and upscale lifestyle. Many developers have found inventive ways to showcase these authentic historical details in their projects—whether it’s highlighting original mosaics and Art Deco details or incorporating old bank vaults into the design for new apartments. These type of features are what make the apartment buildings truly unique. They’re beautiful, spark attention and conversation and tie the city’s future to its past.

What is the demand for luxury apartments in downtown Baltimore?

10 Light Street staircase

Fry: There has been a dramatic increase in demand for apartments in downtown Baltimore during the past several years. Market trends point to demand continuing to grow. About 5,200 new apartments and condos came on the market between 2012 and 2017, according to data from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore. The group estimates there is demand for about 1,400 additional units per year over the next five years.

While we don’t have precise figures breaking down demand for luxury apartments from market-rate units, there is a trend in income growth in the downtown Baltimore area. The median household income for the city as a whole increased more than 20 percent to $44,800 since 2012. By comparison, in the downtown area specifically, the median incomes have increased about 44 percent during the same time period to $53,100. Today, more than half of downtown households have annual incomes of $50,000 or more, according to data from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.

What kind of renters are most attracted to these luxury apartments?

Fry: Professionals, Millennials and empty-nesters are moving into downtown Baltimore. Many renters walk to work in nearby office buildings. Others commute by car and bike or by public transportation to offices slightly further away. There is a significant number of renters who work in Washington, D.C., and take the MARC commuter train each day. There has also been an influx of students, including medical students from University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University and law students from University of Baltimore, choosing to rent downtown. Families with young children are also moving into these apartments, drawn in part by the proximity to museums, restaurants, the Inner Harbor and other fun attractions.

Tell us more about the kind of amenities offered at these luxury buildings.

Fry: There is a range of very attractive amenities, including saltwater infinity swimming pools, state-of-the-art gyms, yoga studios and demonstration kitchens for cooking classes. Some apartment projects are also offering small parks or common spaces for dogs to run around and “pet spa” rooms where people can give Sparky a bath. Many renters like to get around by bike, so secured bike storage rooms are an important feature. A common feature is a place to retreat from the bustle of city life, to relax and socialize with friends. For example, a number of the apartment buildings include an elevated courtyard with a park-like feel, often surrounding a pool, and large-screen TVs in indoor and outdoor common areas.

Where do you think Baltimore will stand five years from now if its downtown area continues to be developed at this rapid pace?

Fry: Baltimore will continue to see the downtown area attract retail shops, restaurants and other businesses to cater to the apartment renters’ needs. Over the past few years, there have been numerous initiatives to make the area safe and attractive for pedestrians and bike riders. That will grow in the coming years as the apartments fill up with renters who want to walk and bike the city. There are more feet on the street downtown today due to the apartment conversion trend. We are seeing more downtown residents walking dogs, jogging, shopping and pushing strollers. That is really changing the vibe of downtown Baltimore. It is fast becoming a place where workers and residents have a sense of shared community and connectedness. They are meeting and greeting each other on the streets, not holed up in offices.

A stretching pattern Toby Bozzuto

While downtown’s former office buildings are being remodeled as sleek apartments, other luxurious projects are being built from the ground up in neighborhoods that ring the core downtown area. Many of these communities appear on the site of obsolete or abandoned office buildings, such as Anthem House in Locust Point. Constructed on the site of an old General Electric service center and developed by The Bozzuto Group, the S-shaped building opened last summer.

“Bozzuto is committed to building communities that respect the environment in which they are built and ignite change in the cities in which they exist. These communities will be instrumental in attracting and retaining residents who will create thriving, growing and supportive neighborhoods that benefit the entire city. As a resident of Baltimore, it is exciting to see and contribute to the momentum of new apartment construction. It is a dynamic market and the increase in housing choices will only strengthen our city’s economic growth and diverse community,” Toby Bozzuto, president & CEO of The Bozzuto Group, told Multi-Housing News.

Hiring among major employers in the area, such as Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland and Under Armour, coupled with a growing network of start-ups, are likely to continue to lure tenants to downtown Baltimore.

Images courtesy of Greater Baltimore Committee, The Bozzuto Group

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Robert Griffin III signs with Ravens to be backup QB

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens reached a one-year agreement with quarterback Robert Griffin III, providing an experienced backup to Joe Flacco.

The Ravens initially brought in Griffin to throw to receivers in a recent workout. That led to another meeting with team officials and eventually an agreement late Tuesday.

Baltimore had expressed interest in Griffin last summer.

Other than Flacco, the only quarterback on the roster had been Josh Woodrum, who spent all of last season on the practice squad and has never thrown a regular-season pass. Ryan Mallett, the Ravens’ backup the last two seasons, is an unrestricted free agent.

This doesn’t preclude the Ravens from selecting a quarterback in this month’s draft.

Griffin hasn’t played since the 2016 season.

He was the second overall pick in the 2012 draft and counted on to be the franchise quarterback for the Washington Redskins. He made the Pro Bowl and All-Rookie team in 2012, but injuries derailed his career.

The Redskins cut him in 2016, and the Browns signed him to a two-year deal. Injuries limited him to five games with the Browns.

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Property Details for 406 W 29th St

406 W 29th St, Baltimore, MD 21211

406 W 29th St, Baltimore, MD 21211 is a single family home for sale, and has been listed on the market for 4 days. 406 W 29th St is in the Remington neighborhood, which has a median listing price of $149,999. The median listing price for Remington is 14% greater than Baltimore at $169,900, and 31% less than MD at $284,990. Nearby neighborhoods like Northern Baltimore, Hampden, Southeastern Baltimore, and Central Baltimore have a median listing price of $194,900. The schools near 406 W 29th St include Margaret Brent Elementary School, Barclay Elementary/Middle School, and Independence School Local I, which are all in the SchoolDistrictName: Baltimore City Public Schools. There are similar and nearby single family homes for sale include 1009 W 42nd St, 2162 Druid Park Dr, and 273 W 31st St.

Finding the right property for you doesn’t need to be an insurmountable challenge. You’ve just got to approach it the right way. With realtor.com®, you can narrow your search according to number of rooms, type of housing, property dimensions, price range and more. You can even take advantage of descriptive photos of the property, maps of the area and detailed features information. Use neighborhood and school features to learn about the local schools situation and the community in which the properties that may interest you are located.

Sign up with realtor.com® and take the pressure off property searches. Once you’re signed in, you can return to your searches whenever you log back onto the site, and email notifications will let you know if there’s been a change or a new listing that you need to check out. When it’s time to look at a property or ask specific questions, a local, qualified REALTOR® will be available to assist you.

Learn what you need to know about 406 W 29th St here. It doesn’t matter if you’ve narrowed down your options or are still working your way through the possibilities; realtor.com® is here to help.

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Maryland Weather Forecast: Could We Be Joining Nor’easter Party?

BALTIMORE, MD — Maryland was lucky enough to dodge the effects of the last Nor’easter, which pummeled New England with a foot of snow and knocked out power — again — to hundreds of thousands of people in a dozen states. But the fourth big winter storm in a matter of weeks is now expected to hit on the start of spring, and the Mid-Atlantic may feel some of the punch, early forecasts say.

The storm should move into the region Tuesday night — the first full day of spring. That’s bad news for anyone who is done with snow: "possibly heavy," the Weather Channel says, or strong winds. The storm — if it brings sizable snow totals and fierce winds, which is all tenuous and based only on early computer models — could mean another round of power outages and coastal flooding.

The storm is still days out, and the first firm snow predictions usually don’t come until about 48 to 72 hours beforehand. Areas that may feel the full effects of the storm v. parts that experience little more than a hefty spring shower is still up in the air, but a winter storm is "likely," forecasters are saying.

Hopefully, it’s not a repeat of the nearly hurricane-force winds that battered Maryland and Virginia in early March, knocking out a peak of about 489,000 utility customers at the worst.

One computer model out Friday is causing a Nor’easter stir. It has the storm system passing over Tennessee on Monday night, into Tuesday, then redeveloping as a coastal storm near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, by Tuesday night. The track would take it east of the Delmarva Peninsula on Wednesday morning before heading out to sea, says The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang.

"The storm draws down enough cold air for a long-duration, heavy snowstorm in our western and northern suburbs, with a sloppy mix of precipitation near the Interstate 95 corridor, including rain, heavy, wet snow and possibly sleet," the Weather Gang writes. "If the model is right, this would be a very elevation-dependent snow event with amounts tending to increase as you head north and west of (Washington, D.C.)."

The Weather Channel’s early look at the storm says possibly heavy snow may stretch from parts of New England to the Mid-Atlantic, Appalachians and the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. Strong winds are possible particularly along the coast from New England to the Mid-Atlantic coast. This could cause coastal flooding, beach erosion, and possibly power outages and tree damage, yet again, in some areas.

First responders spent March 2 racing from one emergency to the next. In Prince George’s County, winds lifted the roofs of several buildings at an apartment complex, forcing the entire complex to be evacuated. A 77-year-old woman was killed in Kingsville by a falling tree branch that afternoon. She was outside her home getting her mail when the accident happened.

And in a rescue that drew condemnation on social media, five paddleboarders on the Severn River were rescued during the nor-easter by Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police and Anne Arundel County Fire Department crews.

Here’s the forecast from the National Weather Service:

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 31. West wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday: A chance of rain after 2pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 42. West wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 30. West wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 51. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the morning.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 33.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 49.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34.

Tuesday: Rain before 8am, then rain and snow. High near 41. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Tuesday Night: Rain and snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 32. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Wednesday: Rain and snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Wednesday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Image via Shutterstock, graphic from the Weather Channel

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Glendening, former Md. governor, says he was wrong to deny ‘lifers’ early release

Former Maryland governors Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), left, and Parris N. Glendening (D) spoke about criminal justice reform at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform. (Mary F. Calvert for The Washington Post)

Former Maryland governor Parris N. Glendening, who declared in 1995 that he would not grant early release to any prisoner serving a life sentence, denounced that stance Wednesday as “completely wrong” and called on legislators to remove the governor from the parole process.

Glendening, a Democrat, spoke at a news conference in Annapolis with former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, as the Maryland General Assembly considers criminal justice bills, including one that would end a requirement for the governor to sign off on the parole of inmates sentenced to life.

Maryland is one of three states that grants the governor this authority. Since Glendening’s declaration that “a life sentence means life,” no governor has signed off on a parole board’s recommendation to release a lifer who committed a crime before turning 18.

“This really is a no-win power,” said Glendening, who served as governor from 1995 to 2003, addressing “all governors and would-be governors” at a news conference hosted by the Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform.

“Ask someone to take this away from you,” Glendening said. “If you approve a parole, you will be criticized. If you refuse to grant parole, you will be criticized.”

Gov. Larry Hogan (R) opposes efforts to leave decisions on lifers entirely up to the parole board. Facing legal and political pressure to overhaul the parole system, he issued an executive order last month that formalizes the process and says the governor should state the reason for opposing parole each time he does so.

“At the end of the day, these decisions must be made by a person who is directly accountable to Maryland citizens,” said Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer. “Putting this into the hands of a largely unaccountable committee is illogical and diminishes public safety.”

The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the legality of Maryland’s parole system in court.

Ehrlich commuted scores of sentences while in office from 2003 to 2007, including life terms for murder, and earned plaudits from advocates of criminal justice reform. He did not echo Glendening’s call on Wednesday.

“I see both sides,” he said, adding that, as a former governor, he likes to protect governors’ prerogatives. The Republican said he would keep private his advice on the subject to Hogan — who served as his appointments secretary.

Both Ehrlich and Glendening said they were not advocating for specific bills being considered by the legislature but were emphasizing the importance of smart criminal justice reforms.

“You talk about the great purple issue of our time,” Ehrlich said, referring to bipartisan support. “Its time has come.”

The bill to remove the governor’s pardon power has had hearings in the Senate and House. Last year, a similar measure moved out of the House but stalled after a tie vote, with one person absent, in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), who chairs the committee, said the bill raises difficult legal and constitutional questions. He said his committee has discussed the measure but has not decided whether it will come up for a vote.

Glendening, who has previously, though more quietly, disavowed his former position, said relegating all prisoners to life without parole means a “loss of hope” for them and their families and a financial burden for residents who pay for the health care of geriatric inmates.

“Whether you are a fiscal conservative or a social progressive or both, this is the right thing to do,” Glendening said.

Ehrlich, a lawyer by training, now provides legal services to people seeking pardons or commutations through a partnership at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. He said he has focused his advocacy in recent years at the federal level but still believes “states really are a policy laboratory” for reforms.

The state Senate delayed action Wednesday on a bill that would fund anti-crime initiatives in Baltimore and increase the penalties for several violent offenses, in large part to address escalating violence in the city.

The measure incorporated a number of bills submitted earlier in the session, including by Hogan, softening some of the governor’s provisions. But advocates said they are concerned about extending prison sentences for violent offenders. They accused Zirkin’s Judicial Proceedings Committee of negotiating some of the changes behind closed doors.

“We all know tougher sentences work really well on the campaign trail, but we had hoped that a more thoughtful approach would have come out of committee,” said Ricardo Flores, director of government relations for the state Office of the Public Defender.

Zirkin said the legislation — which will be heard Thursday — has the support of Hogan, Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh (D) and members of the Baltimore delegation, who see it as a balance between funding crime-prevention efforts and toughening some sentencing guidelines.

“We did the best we could to put together a lot of ideas that together move the needle,” Zirkin said.

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Jealous tells Waldorf voters it’s time to ‘think big’

Former NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Jealous speaks with voters at a campaign stop in Waldorf on Feb. 8.

Former NAACP president and CEO Benjamin T. Jealous told voters that he decided to enter the race for Maryland governor because he’s talked to too many children who feel let down by local government.

“I sat with a 7-year-old boy in a housing project in West Baltimore and I asked him what he wanted to see the next governor do,” Jealous said. “The first thing he said was, ‘Fix the bus system. This one’s broken. I used to only have to walk two blocks to the bus, but now have to walk six.’”

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MD Lottery

BALTIMORE _ These Maryland lotteries were drawn Sunday:

Estimated jackpot: $185 million

9-0-6

(nine, zero, six)

8-2-4-3

(eight, two, four, three)

Estimated jackpot: $246 million

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Judge: Kushner company must reveal identities of real estate partners

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A federal judge in Maryland ruled Friday that Jared Kushner’s family real estate company could not keep secret the identities of its partners in Baltimore-area apartment complexes that are the subject of a class-action lawsuit by tenants.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in September, following a May article co-published by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine that described how Kushner Companies have used highly aggressive tactics in pursuing payments from tenants and former tenants of 15 large apartment complexes it owns and manages in the Baltimore area.

The lawsuit, filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, alleges that the Kushner Companies’ real estate management arm and related corporate entities have been improperly inflating payments owed by tenants by charging them late fees that are often baseless and in excess of state limits and court fees that are not actually approved by any court. The suit alleges that the late fees and court fees set in motion a vicious cycle in which rent payments are partly put toward the fees instead of the actual rent owed, thus deeming the tenant once again “late” on his or her rent payment, leading to yet more late fees and court fees. Tenants are pressured to pay the snowballing bills with immediate threat of eviction, the suit alleges.

Kushner Companies and its co-defendants sought to have the case transferred from state court to federal court, which would spare it from having to face an all-Baltimore City jury. To have this transfer approved, the defendants needed to show that none of their ownership partners were residents of Maryland. The defendants requested that their submission of the list of partners be sealed from public view, citing the high degree of media interest in Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser.

“Given the tenor of the media’s reporting of this case, including politically-motivated innuendo no doubt intended to disparage the First Family, there is foreseeable risk of prejudice to the privacy rights and reputations of innocent private investors,” wrote Westminster Management, Kushner Companies’ real estate management arm, in a court filing in November.

This request to seal the partners’ identities was challenged several weeks later in a joint filing by ProPublica, the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and Baltimore TV station WMAR-TV. They argued that the press had a “presumptive right” to view court documents, and that the Kushner Companies had not identified the “compelling government interest” that is required to block public access.

In his ruling Friday, U.S. District Court Judge James K. Bredar stated that the high level of public interest in Kushner and his business associates if anything enhanced the case for maintaining access to the identities of the defendants in the case.

“The Defendants are no doubt correct that the presence of the Kushner (and therefore Trump) families in this case has raised its profile and attracted significant, though perhaps not ‘unprecedented,’ media attention,” Bedar wrote. “But increased public interest in a case does not, by itself, overcome the presumption of access. In fact, it would logically strengthen it, particularly when the interest is due to the presence of important public figures in the litigation. In such an instance, the public’s desire to evaluate the Court’s decision-making is likely augmented. And beyond this apparently inevitable media scrutiny, Defendants have largely relied on ‘vague superlatives’ and insinuations instead of demonstrating specific harms.”

Several recent news reports have given a hint of just how far-reaching the network of investors in the Maryland apartment complexes could be. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Kushner Companies last spring secured a $30 million equity investment in the Baltimore complexes and others of its holdings from Menora Mivtachim, one of Israel’s largest financial institutions, just as Jared Kushner was about to make his first official visit to Israel as President Trump’s designated broker of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. More recently, a New Yorker article described the Kushner Companies’ aggressive pursuit of Chinese investors in its real estate ventures.

In his ruling, Bedar gave the defendants until Feb. 9 to provide the list of their ownership partners. The Kushner Companies could opt instead to return the case to the Circuit Court in Baltimore, if the firm decides the downsides of having to disclose the investment partners in the complexes outweigh the downsides of having the case heard by a Baltimore jury.

A request for comment from Kushner Companies’ spokesman was not immediately returned Friday afternoon. A lawyer for the plaintiff tenants, Andy Freeman, said he and his colleagues on the case had not yet gotten any indication of how Kushner Companies planned to proceed.

“We’re pleased with the ruling. We don’t think that parties to federal litigation should be able to conceal their identity,” Freeman said. He added: “This is just the first step in moving toward justice for the tenants.”

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Md. lawmaker proposes ‘Jared Kushner Act’ to protect delinquent tenants

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump watch the president’s State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

A Maryland lawmaker has introduced a bill named for President Trump’s son-in-law that is intended to stop judges from ordering the arrest of tenants who owe their landlords up to $5,000 in unpaid rent.

Del. Bilal Ali (D-Baltimore City), the bill’s sponsor, called the measure the Jared Kushner Act, because Kushner’s apartment management company has aggressively used the controversial debt-collection tactic.

A Baltimore Sun investigation last year found that corporate entities affiliated with Kushner Cos.’ 17 apartment complexes in Maryland sought the civil arrest of 105 former tenants — the most of any Maryland company between 2013 and 2017. All had allegedly failed to appear in court to respond to charges of unpaid rent.

“It’s like being jailed because you’re poor,” Ali said.

Under the bill, civil arrests for unpaid rent, known as body attachments, would be prohibited if the amount of debt is $5,000 or less.

Ali said he decided to name the bill after Kushner — a semior adviser at the White House — because “he has reaped a lot of wealth off of the backs of poor people. . . . He owns these properties and has to take ownership of that. . . . He just happens to be No. 45’s son-in-law.”

Kushner Cos. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Similar legislation — but without the catchy title — was proposed last year by state Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery). Smith withdrew it after judges, the state bar association and several members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee argued that some form of civil arrest still was necessary in unpaid rent cases.

Judges need to be able to compel tenants who are delinquent to provide information about their assets, these critics said, so the court can determine what they should have to pay. Smith said Wednesday that he plans to file another bill that would allow for that process, but would prohibit the practice of jailing those who cannot come up with relatively small amounts of unpaid rent.

Under Smith’s proposal, which he said he developed in consultation with the office of Maryland’s attorney general, Brian E. Frosh (D), and consumer advocacy groups, a renter who owes back rent would still get arrested. But instead of going to jail, the renter would fill out paperwork about their assets. Once the paperwork is completed, the renter would be let go. Ali’s bill does not include that option.

“The problem we are trying to solve is people getting sent to jail because they’re poor,” Smith said. “Our approach is a more tailored approach to the problem of real people sitting in jail. Under this bill, that wouldn’t happen.”

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MD Lottery

BALTIMORE _ These Maryland lotteries were drawn Monday:

JH-AH-9D-3H-4S

(JH, AH, 9D, 3H, 4S)

03-09-18-19-38, Bonus: 13

(three, nine, eighteen, nineteen, thirty-eight; Bonus: thirteen)

01-05-10-28-57, Cash Ball: 3

(one, five, ten, twenty-eight, fifty-seven; Cash Ball: three)

Estimated jackpot: $63 million

03-05-21-29-40-42

(three, five, twenty-one, twenty-nine, forty, forty-two)

Estimated jackpot: $500,000

2-1-3

(two, one, three)

7-4-2

(seven, four, two)

1-3-8-5

(one, three, eight, five)

1-0-8-1

(one, zero, eight, one)

Estimated jackpot: $92 million

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