The 234 Apartment

As Towson University students prepare to head back to campus this week, university officials say complaints of loud, unruly gatherings near the campus are down by as much as 50 percent in some neighborhoods since the Baltimore County Council passed an ordinance to deter problem behavior . After numerous neighborhood complaints of public urination, property damage and excessive noise in residential neighborhoods, the council passed the Social Host–Unruly Social Gatherings ordinance in January 2016 to target problem landlords and renters through their pocketbooks. The two-year pilot, which was introduced by County Councilman David Marks , will expire in January. With a full school year having passed since the enactment of the ordinance, neighbors, Towson University officials and county police officials say it is working to curb problem behavior . Marks said he will seek reauthorization of the legislation. "I think it's having the effect we wanted and it's had, mor...

Another big development in St. Johns County is getting rolling. The three builders in Bannon Lakes have already been building in individual neighborhoods. But now the amenity center and entrance are complete, and it’s ready for a grand opening. Bannon Lakes is big at 580 acres and has plans for up to 849 single-family homes, 150 townhomes, 15,000 square feet of office and 105,000 square feet of commercial/retail. The three neighborhoods: Southshore at Bannon Lakes, KB Home, $220,000-$260,000. Bridge Bay at Bannon Lakes, Pulte Homes, $240,000-$300,000. It’s a gated, 55+ community. The Grove at Bannon Lakes, AV Homes, $285,000-$350,000. The grand opening is from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 16 and will feature food trucks and live music. Bannon Lakes is at the northeast corner of the Interstate 95 and International Golf Parkway interchange . That’s across the street from Markland, a 345-lot community and just west of Twelve Mile Swamp Conservation Area , which has no homesites for sale. Bannon Lak...

The population in Cherry Creek North is set to grow exponentially as development hits a crescendo. Can the area seamlessly transition from a retail destination to a mixed-use neighborhood? Cherry Creek has come a long way from its origins as a farming community established as the town of Harman in 1886. During the early 20th century , it was just a few houses, small farms and greenhouses on 320 acres. It was considered an economical place to live.  Fast forward to today, and the town's founder, Edwin Preston Harman , likely wouldn't recognize the area, which has evolved as Denver's premier shopping and dining district and one of the priciest neighborhoods in the region to call home. Cherry Creek is is undergoing yet another transformation with the development of new apartments, condos, office space, retail projects and a new hotel. The tony shopping district is experiencing the biggest construction boom it's seen in decades, fueled by developers wan...

EXPAND The new USC Village is dominated by dorms and apartments that will house 2,500 students — but it also has a Trader Joe's. Hillel Aron The University of Southern California has long been criticized for being an inward-looking institution, one that insulates itself from the surrounding neighborhoods of South Los Angeles . Its new expansion project, USC Village, is hailed for changing that. The 15-acre, $ 700 million housing and retail development brings a Trader Joe's to South L.A. for the first time, as well as a Target, with many other businesses (15 restaurants and nearly as many shops) to come — and with them, jobs. A recent New York Times piece lavished praise upon the development, which has its official groundbreaking on Saturday, saying the project "brings together one of California’s poorest areas and one of its wealthiest universities." Indeed, as part of the project, the university contributed $20 million to the city's affordable housing trust fu...

Woodcrest Country Club will be preserved in perpetuity under a deal reached between owners and town officials . (Photo: JOHN ZIOMEK/Courier-Post) Story Highlights The Short Hills complex, to be made up entirely of affordable units , would be developed by Fair Share Housing Center , a Cherry Hill- based advocacy center for affordable housing . CHERRY HILL – A deal to preserve Woodcrest Country Club could put more than 800 apartments on commercial sites on the township's west side, including the current headquarters of Subaru of America. The plan, which needs a judge's approval, would include from 90 to 124 units for people with low and moderate incomes — part of an agreement to settle a 30- year court fight over Cherry Hill's affordable-housing obligation. Township officials have said the agreement would bar future development at the 180- acre country club . The club's owner, Cherry Hill Land Associates , had sued the township in an effort to build an 844- unit apa...

San Francisco is celebrating the Summer of Love’s 50th anniversary. Most of the celebrants are probably dead and buried by now, especially its high priests like Allen Ginsburg who passed into Eternity in the dingy East Village , Timothy Leary, Jerry Garcia, Emmet Grogan of the Diggers (remember them). In truth, there hasn’t been much of a to-do about the historic occasion. Today’s “with it” residents of the Bay Area live in the moment. Vintage refers to their last but one smart phone; antique is their pre-updated software from Microsoft. The “Summer Of Love” – if they can recognize the name at all – belongs to the Neolithic Age or whenever it was that the skies were filled with flying dinosaurs instead of Amazon delivery drones . Only the De Young Museum has done its civic duty in bowing to the past. A mile away from the Haight-Ashby, they have organized a nostalgic exhibition that features the vivid psychedelic posters from Bill Graham’s Fillmore Ballroom concerts and the accoutre...