(February 12, 2009) - Home prices in the Baltimore area took the largest year-to-year drop in almost a decade in January, according to statistics released by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. (MRISI), a Rockville-based real estate listing company.

Baltimore’s most recent plans to refurbish Pratt Street may take more than a decade and cost upwards of $100 million, reports from baltimore.bizjournals say.

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation recently announced its decision to contribute over $15 million to the second phase of a large redevelopment plan near Johns Hopkins medical center, reports from baltimoresun.com report.

In a unanimous vote, Baltimore City’s spending board set aside $10 million to acquire land for the East Baltimore Development Inc.’s (EBDI) 88-acre, $1.8 billion redevelopment project, reports from baltimore.bizjournals.com reports.

Reports released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday show that the starts of new homes in the American South, which includes Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., fell 7.4 percent in August from the previous month.

Reports from GlobeSt.com show that the Bethesda, Md.-based multifamily lender Green Park Financial has opened a new office in Baltimore. Patrick Boyle, the assistant vice president of the production group, says he expects the Baltimore office to close between $200 million over the next year.