We love a good mid-winter bash, even if the festival in question is 300k SF, Class-A retail center in Annapolis.

American Realty Advisors bought Giant-anchored Festival at Riva late last week for $103M in cash from the MD State Retirement and Pension System, which paid $42M for the property in ‘95 and sold it to plug its $2B budget hole. California-based ARA loves the Baltimore-DC market (can you blame them?), also buying Waldorf Marketplace II for $38.5M in 2007.

Rappaport Cos’ Jim Farrell, who’s leasing Riva with Bill Dickinson, shows us a ticket from the last game at Cole Field House (we get the impression he’s a Terps fan). He says Annapolis ranks with Bethesda and Reston as a retail location and thinks the property benefits from lots of DC commuters living nearby, in addition to draws like the Naval Academy and historic downtown. Jim also leased the property 10 years ago when it was managed by Madison Marquette.

That’s how much HarborView Property Development Co is looking to get for four parcels at 500 Harborview Dr in downtown Baltimore. They’ve tapped CBRE’s DC multifamily team to market the lots, with buyers having until Feb 1 to submit bids. The last parcels of the former ship-repair facility could be developed into nearly 1,600 residential units, which will once and for all take away any trace of arc-wielding, jack hammers, and other "amenities" of the former use.

Flu shots, anyone? Merritt Properties sold 10 acres at Beltway Business Park in Baltimore Monday to Kaiser Permanente for $5M, which is using the land for a new healthcare facility. The 130k SF building (rendered above) will open June 2013, housing primary- and specialty-care services. Kaiser says it plans on expanding in Baltimore, part of its national strategy of community investment.

Sick of sales stories (and words that start with "s")? We’ve got one more for you. Cassidy Turley’s capital markets team closed its second sale in a week (remember when RREEF bought Commerce Corp HQ?), representing the seller in Romanek Properties’ $7M purchase of 7700 Montpelier Rd in Columbia from CSG Partners Monday. The 44k SF office building is home to the Johns Hopkins applied physics lab (you don't have to know what that means to appreciate the sale) and featured an ultra-low cap rate, although no one’s saying what it is.

Another sign of the economy on the mend? Jon Di Virgilio and Scott Wingrat joined MacKenzie’s Lutherville office last week, bringing a combined 30 years of experience to the table. They’ve repped tenants like Medifast and Comcast, and it even appears they coordinated tie color for this photo.

Yesterday was 1/11/11—did the stars align for your deal? Email michael.leon@bisnow.com