News Archive

The 2010 Brand Leadership Award goes to CR Restaurant!  

CR Restaurant, Inc., the restaurant division of  Continental Realty Corporation, has been recognized by Burger King Corporation as the recipient of its 2010 Brand Leadership Award. Sixteen Burger King franchisees – eight each from domestic and international locations – were chosen from among the more than 2000 franchise entities that exist around the world. Established in 1990, CR Restaurant owns and operates 30 Burger King restaurants throughout the Maryland and Pennsylvania region, as well as one Cosi restaurant.
According to Tom Herman, president of CR Restaurant, Inc., the company was cited for its overall operational and management excellence, its expansion philosophy and recent growth activity, as well as performance and sales characteristics compared to stores in similar-sized markets.  
CR Restaurant employs more than 1000 workers through its operation of 18 Burger King locations in Maryland and 12 in Pennsylvania, with the majority of the latter centered in the Wilkes-Barre area. Burger King operates more than 12,000 restaurants in all 50 states and 74 countries, with more than 90% owned by independent franchisees.

The Y Signs with CRC

The Y of Central Maryland has signed a lease with Continental Realty Corporation for approximately 35,000 square feet of space at North Plaza, a 340,000 square foot neighborhood shopping center positioned in the Parkville/Carney section of northeast Baltimore County. The site, which is expected to be operational in early June, represents the twelfth location for the community-based organization that serves more than 80,000 Marylanders on an annual basis.
Located at 8910 Waltham Woods Road, North Plaza features nearly 35 tenants and is anchored by Safeway Supermarket, Ross Dress for Less, K-Mart and Tuesday Morning. It offers a range of apparel retailers, fast-casual restaurants, medical and fitness uses as well as necessity-based services stores. Nearly 40,000 vehicles pass by the center on a daily road from its position at the intersection of Joppa Road and Perring Parkway.  

Welcome Aboard!

Continental Realty Corporation has selected Bob Rajewski, formerly Director of Asset Management for Caves Valley Partners, as our new Director of Asset Management.
In his new position, Mr. Rajewski will oversee due diligence and financial analysis of prospective commercial and multi-family real estate investments, in addition to managing underwriting activities associated with new acquisitions. Mr. Rajewski brings more than twenty years of diversified real estate experience in appraising, underwriting, lending, property management, development and private and institutional asset management.  

Lauren Wayne joins CRC as Director of Investor Reporting. She was formerly Controller for Sterling Partners, a private equity investment company. 
“Lauren represents an excellent addition to our investment and accounting teams, given her strong knowledge and proven experience in the financial and investor relations sectors,” explained JM Schapiro, Chief Executive Officer of Continental Realty. “The company’s operational model includes the participation of outside investor entities, so she fills a critical role with her talents in reporting and compliance.”  

CR South Acquires 115,000 Square Foot Marquesa Plaza

CR South, a partnership between Continental Realty Corporation and Forman Capital, LLC, has announced the acquisition of Marquesa Plaza, a 115,000 square foot retail center located at the intersection of Livingston Road and Pine Ridge Road in Naples, Florida.
Constructed in 2007, the neighborhood shopping center features 19 tenants including Starbucks Coffee, First American Bank, Anytime Fitness, First Watch Restaurant, Carvel Ice Cream, Sunshine Pharmacy and Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The new ownership group has selected Investment Properties Corporation to oversee marketing and leasing activities aimed at targeting complementary retailers to add to the Marquesa Plaza tenant mix.

CRC Celebrates 50 Years Of Excellence 

Since our founding in 1960, Continental Realty Corporation has become a leader in the Mid-Atlantic real estate community. CRC began by acquiring houses in Baltimore City for sale and as rentals in the 1960’s and now boasts a diverse real estate portfolio encompassing shopping centers, apartment communities, mixed-use properties, office parks, flex space, warehouse buildings, restaurants and undeveloped land.  Additional examples of our company’s diversity in investments included the purchase of JF Theaters; a chain that expanded through the 1980’s and was sold to Loews in 1988, the decision to become a Burger King franchisee in 1989, the tripling of our residential division since 2002 and the entrance into the tax lien investment business. Our CR South Division continues to seek investment opportunities in the Florida area. Headed by Brett Forman and Kemp Deming, CR South expanded its portfolio in 2009 to include a brand new shopping center in Naples, Florida called Marquesa Plaza. CRC will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary throughout the year. 

The CEL A-List

In 2009, sixteen of our communities received the CEL A List in Real Estate Award, meaning they all earned at least a 90% score from our annual Resident Satisfaction Survey. Congratulations to our exceptional office and service staff for making our communities the best places to live. We salute Brook View, Cardiff Hall, Cross Country Manor, Donnybrook, Glen Manor, Hunting Hills, Mallow Hill, McDonogh Township, Northwood Ridge, Oaklee Village, Padonia Village, Park Raven, Reserve at Quiet Waters, Rock Glen, Stevenson Lane, and Westwinds. See the specifications here.

(from CityBiz Maryland Real Estate)

Original article available at the CityBiz website.

Continental Realty Corporation has collected more than 1500 pairs of shoes to be distributed to Haiti through the Soles4Soles organization, an international charity that donates footwear to needy people around the globe. Separately, the real estate firm has donated $15,000 to the American Red Cross and various other charities earmarked specifically for Haitian residents.

The company-wide effort gained traction from the efforts of one employee - Charmaygne Litz - who works in the legal department of the company. Charmaygne, familiar with the international charity work performed by Soles4Soles, also knew that Continental Realty was a passionate contributor to worthy causes and she decided to marry the two groups together.

"With twenty-four apartment communities in our portfolio containing more than 15,000 residents, we realized that we could quickly communicate with and mobilize the efforts of a significant amount of people," explained Anne Angel, Marketing and Training Director for Continental Realty Corporation. "After distributing a flyer asking residents and employees to donate shoes benefiting the Haitian cause, the footwear started to quickly flow in. And -- quite remarkably - the outpouring has not stopped. The contributions also came from adjacent apartment communities and word about the effort spread into area companies," she added.

A resident living at Padonia Village Apartments talked about the shoe drive at a local technology company where she works, and more than 300 pairs were quickly donated. Firms "stepped in" in other ways as the Von Paris Moving and Storage company donated boxes for use in the shipping process.

The company delivered the shoes, which is comprised of an assortment of new and gently-used footwear, to Haiti last week. The monetary donation was collected exclusively from Continental Realty employees in the local area and 100% matched by the company.

"The response to our call for help was swift and over-whelming. The most gratifying element of the collection effort was the demonstration of the human spirit, combined with the passion and enthusiasm people showed for this project. We were especially appreciative of the volume of new shoes we received, with some still in their original boxes," Angel added.

"This effort is clearly an example of how the vision of one person can make a significant difference throughout a large organization," explained JM Schapiro, Chief Executive Officer of Continental Realty. "Our corporate culture allowed us to embrace a good idea and, most importantly, rally others to help those in need. It was amazing to see how the idea spread from our company to the apartment communities and onto other area organizations. We have always believed in giving back to the community and we're thrilled to be able to do our small part to help those devastated by the earthquake," he added. 

In 2009, CRC hired several new employees. We welcomed Gale Griffin as Administrative Assistant to Lawrence Rief, Meredith Gerecht as Office Clerk, Lisa Perkins as a Commercial Property Manager and Nancy Neal as an Accountant. Attorney Denise Stanley joined the legal team to focus on commercial leasing projects.

2009 also brought a strengthening of our Commercial Leasing Team as we brought the leasing broker piece of this business in house. We welcomed Kristina Kassolis O’Keefe as a Senior Leasing Representative. She joined David Donato, newly promoted to Vice President of the Commercial Division and Blake Dickinson, our Commercial Leasing Representative.

Continental’s Commercial Division recently completed the redevelopment of Chartley Park Center. Purchased in 1986 with a thriving SuperFresh grocery store as its anchor, this shopping center was at its peak. However, with new competition coming into the area, including Owings Mills, SuperFresh began to lose sales. Ultimately the grocery store closed, leaving Continental with the challenge of finding a new replacement tenant in a competitive market.

In 2006 Continental signed a lease with Brick Bodies Fitness (www.brickbodies.com) to become Chartley’s new anchor. Following extensive renovations to the former grocery space completed by Brick Bodies, and major renovations to the center completed by Continental, Brick Bodies opened in January 2007. Memberships at Chartley have significantly exceeded Brick’s expectations. We’re excited to have Brick Bodies as our new anchor at Chartley Park Center. This is the continuation of a terrific relationship which began in 2001 when Brick Bodies became a new CRC anchor tenant in Perry Hall. All of us at CRC wish Brick Bodies Fitness and all of our tenants a safe and prosperous 2008.

New Members of the CRC Team

Continental is proud to announce the promotion of Michele A. Williams to Vice President and Controller of the company. Michele joined Continental in 1999 as a staff accountant after spending almost 10 years working for the Rouse Company and Prime Retail. Michele now oversees the day to day management and operation of the accounting department. These areas include accounts payable and receivable, cash management, financial functions and external reporting. Michele has a BA from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Continental’s President and CEO, JM Schapiro noted "We are pleased that our employees are able to grow within the company. Our ability to promote from within is very important to us. Our nearly 50 years of continued success is a result of our employee’s talents, dedication and commitment to serving our customers."

We are also proud to announce that David Donato has joined Continental as the Director of Leasing for the Commercial Property Division. David has held several leasing positions over the past eight years, including five years with Continental from 2000 to 2005. We are proud to have David back with CRC in a new management and leadership role. David’s broad experiences add unique value and perspective to our commercial leasing program. David has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Loyola College in Maryland.

A Night to Celebrate!

Continental Realty set a new standard for excellence at this year’s Twelfth Annual MMHA Star Awards celebration. Each year, the Maryland Multi-Housing Association awards those individuals and communities that have outperformed their peers. As Eddie Lichter, President of MMHA, said in his opening comments, “The individuals and communities we recognize tonight consistently rise above our industry standards and continually set the bar of achievement to which we all aspire.”

Special recognition is due our Corporate Services Coordinator Mike Kyle, who served as co-chair of this year's extraordinary event.

We are very proud of all of our communities and teams and particularly the ones that were honored last night. Sweeping the category for Stellar Communities with rents beginning at $699 and below, Northwood Ridge took home the Bronze Award, while Rock Glen claimed the Silver and Park Raven captured GOLD!

For Stellar Communities with rents starting from $799, Kenilworth at Hazelwood won the Bronze award.

Our Star Certified Communities scored 80% or higher on their professional evaluation criteria. Park Raven, McDonogh Township and Padonia Village acheived this coveted title!  

At CRC, we emphasize the importance of teamwork as the key component to goal achievement. We are happy to report that two of our Service Teams were recognized as outstanding performers among their peers. McDonogh Township celebrates the efforts of Steve Odle and George Puro while Padonia Village celebrates Herb Howard, Danny Stankovic, Noel Garcia, Larry Harris, Norman Schwandtner, Stuart Bruce, David Guzman, William Harvey, Donald Hoffmaster, Matthew Meek and Timothy Williams.

In a new category for the Star Awards, Continental took home FIVE Stellar Marketing awards. Park Raven and Courthouse Square's exceptional brochures took the Bronze and Gold Awards respectively, while our newly designed website captured the Bronze award for Stellar Website. Our outreach marketing efforts were awarded Silver for flyers designed for The Reserve at Quiet Waters and Gold for Kenilworth at Perring Park.

Thank you to all of our residential employees, who dedicate themselves daily to making Continental Really the leader in service and skills every day. We are proud of you all!