If you were looking for Arsh Mirmiran during the early 1990s around lunchtime, chances are he was at The Village Food Market at The Village of Cross Keys, eating a Reuben or fried chicken and western fries. Known as the Cross Keys Deli, it was a popular (and nearby) destination for Friends School of Baltimore students like him who were permitted to leave campus for lunch.

In fact, not just the deli but all of Cross Keys was a familiar spot for Mirmiran, today a partner with Caves Valley Partners, the Baltimore-based commercial development firm that has recently revitalized the iconic Baltimore location.

Growing up, he accompanied his parents to Cross Keys for shopping trips and more meals at the deli. His mother had her hair done by Howard at Carl Intercoiffurie, one of the original tenants. Later, after he and his wife, Lauren, moved to Homeland, Donna’s Cafe at Cross Keys was a frequent family meal spot with their young daughters.

“When I was younger, I didn’t have the big picture to understand that it felt like community,” says Mirmiran. “There was good stuff there, and we went. For me it was all about the deli.”

“Community” was the vision that Jim Rouse and The Rouse Company had when Rouse purchased the former 68-acre Baltimore Country Club golf course in 1961 to embark on a new concept: a multi-use complex with high-end retail, gathering spots, offices, and luxury condominiums. It was Rouse’s first, pre-Columbia planned community.

Rouse took the name “Cross Keys” from the 18th-century tavern that once welcomed travelers on the Falls Turnpike Road (now Falls Road). Located where the current CVS Pharmacy is on Falls Road, the inn burnt to the ground in 1909, but the two crossed keys of the original inn’s logo informed the new development’s own logo featuring three crossed keys.

The name was also inspired by Cross Keys Village, the free Black enclave on Falls Road, just north of Cold Spring Lane that dated to the mid-1800s. Most of the robust community had been razed around the time Rouse Co. was negotiating to buy the land for the Village of Cross Keys.

In his comprehensive history, Baltimore’s Two Cross Keys Villages, Jim Holechek writes, “To make room for the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute-Western High School complex and a highway entrance ramp, all Cross Keys homes on the west side of Falls were condemned and demolished in the fall of 1961.”

Then a resident of Roland Park, Rouse worked with the Roland Park community to gather buy-in for his low-density concept, hosting numerous in-home gatherings. When construction began on the residential section in September 1963, Rouse took his inspiration from Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.’s Roland Park plan, writes Holechek. “The directive from Rouse was to follow the land contours and not to remove trees except for a few in the footprints of the section of the development.”

When The Village of Cross Keys opened in 1965, it quickly became the place to be. And remained so for decades. Oprah Winfrey lived there during her WJZ TV days, and Gov. Harry Hughes and poet Ogden Nash called it home. (The latter wrote handwritten letters to Rouse complaining about his condo’s TV reception and the parking.)

Legendary jewelry designer Betty Cooke relocated her Mt. Vernon studio to Cross Keys, establishing the iconic The Store Ltd. alongside retailers like The Village Set sportswear store, Hess Shoes, and Octavia, the destination for elegant dresses. Stores shared walkways with Silber’s Bakery, Equitable Trust Co., Cross Keys Pharmacy, and Chappell Brothers food market. Professional offices, doctors, lawyers, RTK&L architects, the Phyllis Mollett Travel Agency, and the Rouse Co. headquarters rounded out the neighborhood hub Rouse envisioned.

The hotel on the property (not owned by Rouse) attracted athletes, celebrities, and high-end clientele. During the 1980s and early 1990s, The Village Roost, first owned by the Rouse Co. before becoming the coffee shop for the hotel at Cross Keys, attracted Baltimore’s movers and shakers for power breakfasts.

At the turn of the 21st century, though, Cross Keys’ shine began to wane. Mirmiran’s beloved Cross Keys Deli had already closed in 1994 when owners Irv Falk and Morris Tossman retired. In 2004, the Rouse Co. was acquired by Chicago-based General Growth Properties (GGP) in a $7.2-billion deal that included the assets of Cross Keys and high-profile Rouse properties like Harborplace and Boston’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

“Those were the Rouse assets they wanted,” Mirmiran says. GGP didn’t pay attention to the smaller, less flashy retail complex—and it showed. During the 2008 Great Recession, GGP went bankrupt and, in 2012, sold Cross Keys to another non-local owner, New York’s Ashkenazy Acquisitions Corporation. Mirmiran, coincidentally, had become a Cross Keys “regular” again, driving back and forth from his mother-in-law’s condo there.

Ashkenazy initially had plans to revamp the property, but they never materialized. Cross Keys languished as local retail competition ramped up after the 1991 renovation of Towson Town Center—with its flashy anchor, Nordstrom and the growth of other regional malls.

The fashionista destination for the area and Cross Keys staple, Ruth Shaw, left in 2017 for The Shops at Kenilworth. Donna’s shut its doors a year later. Online shopping was ascendent. At the time, Cross Keys retail occupancy was at 62 percent, with a mere 40 percent of the office space leased. With each trip through the Cross Keys’ gatehouse, Mirmiran saw more shuttered store fronts and vacant offices.

“Every time, I would think that what was happening at Cross Keys was a real shame,” he recalls.

Rosemary “Cookie” Schneider, owner and manager of The Pied Piper, has lived through Cross Keys’ ups and downs. Her mother, the late Kitty DeVincentis (“Mrs. D.” to customers), was a former Peck & Peck buyer who saw the need for an upscale children’s clothing shop in Baltimore. DeVincentis opened The Pied Piper in 1965 on Wyndhurst Avenue and was wooed by Rouse to relocate to Cross Keys in 1995.

“When we came to Cross Keys, it was almost like the Rodeo Drive of Baltimore,” Schneider recalls. “Immediately our business doubled.”

She remembers diplomats driving from Washington, D.C., to shop for their children. However, that dried up after the economic downturn in 2008 and the promised—but never delivered—improvements by out-of-state owners. “We languished, but we stayed,” she says. “My mother and I believed in Cross Keys.”

So did Mirmiran, who was exhausting his spouse with complaints about the center’s plight. “Finally my wife said to stop complaining and to do something about it,” says Mirmiran. He and his Caves Valley Partners, Arthur Adler and Steve Sibel, approached Ashkenazy.

“FINALLY MY WIFE SAID TO STOP COMPLAINING AND DO SOMETHING.”

“This was about nostalgia and commerce, but it had to make economic sense,” adds Mirmiran, who sent persistent emails to Ashkenazy. “Local ownership is important. We knew what it could be. It’s still an incredible location, but it was dated and just needed love for it to come back to life.”

By late 2019, Caves Valley and Ashkenazy were talking. Through the pandemic’s lockdown phase, they worked out the details of a sale that was finalized in July 2020. It excluded the on-site hotel, owned by Delta by Marriott, and the nearly 700 condos at Cross Keys. But Mirmiran finally had the keys to Cross Keys. He and his partners began a major overhaul.

First up was improving property access, signage, road configuration, and parking. Working with the The Cross Keys Maintenance Corp. that owns the Falls Road frontage, Caves Valley Partners funded the clean-up of the tree line along the road. The gatehouse got a needed facelift, with Caves Valley Partners officially naming it the “James Rouse Memorial Gatehouse” in 2022 to honor Rouse’s pioneering vision for mixed-use development.

“Originally the way it was designed was to look like a gated community,” Mirmiran explains. “But if you are looking to bring back the retail, you can’t have it look like a private community.”

Honoring the residents’ wishes to keep the gate arm for safety, they refurbished the gatehouse with a new brick façade, metal roof with a cupola, and better signage for non-residents.

Local architect Design Collective reimagined The Village Square retail and office area, replacing the original vertical planking, which had been damaged over the years, with natural cedar siding. Rouse’s red brick got a modern coat of white paint, and the outdoor lights, what Mirmiran called “1980s globes from Harborplace,” were replaced.

Designer Brian Swanson had developed a criteria package for the signage and storefront of the original Cross Keys in the late 1970s. At the time, he was part of a now-defunct global architectural firm that specialized in large shopping center complexes.

“I knew nothing about the Rouse Company,” says Swanson, who was working out of the firm’s South Africa office in Johannesburg. “But it was the ultimate project with its mixed use and courtyard landscaping—almost forcing the customer to walk around the perimeters against the storefronts.”

Swanson didn’t set foot on the property until 1980, when he moved to Baltimore. “I remember having lunch at The Roost, and it was so crowded,” says Swanson, who founded Swanson Design, a Baltimore-based firm specializing in retail and residential design. “Having worked on it remotely and then seeing it in person was quite an eye-opener.”

In 2020, Swanson saw the banner on Falls Road announcing redevelopment plans and immediately called Caves Valley Partners to share his history with Cross Keys. “Arsh called me back, which led to a meeting on-site with Design Collective architects and Arsh, who asked for my ideas,” says Swanson.

Much of the design work was already complete, but Mirmiran jumped at the chance to connect the old Cross Keys with the new. He hired Swanson to create the new retail signage standards (basically, a set of guidelines retailers adhere to when creating their own signs).

“The opportunity to bring Brian’s career full circle at the property led us to think about how we could incorporate his talents into the project,” Mirmiran says. “We feel like he made a major impact on the design of the retail space, even in his limited role.”

Swanson, who also envisioned the trellises that now surround the shopping perimeter, says that Rouse’s vision of a mixed-use property is as relevant today as it was 60 years ago.

“It’s the intimacy of it,” he explains. “Cross Keys has an esteemed sense of value to it. It’s looking spectacular.”

“IT WAS DATED AND JUST NEEDED LOVE FOR IT TO COME BACK TO LIFE.”

Part of Caves Valley Partners’ due diligence in the early days of the sale was meeting with current tenants as well as Rouse’s sons, Jimmy and Ted, and connecting with former Rouse Co. executives who were involved in Cross Keys.

“I did a whole tour of people who I knew had a history with the property to let them know that we were doing more of a refresh,” Mirmiran says. One of those tenants was Betty Cooke. “Betty was happy that we were keeping the flavor of Cross Keys.”

Before she died in August 2024 at the age of 100, Cooke shared with Mirmiran the original brochure for Cross Keys, displaying illustrations of the original tenants. Today, it’s blown up as wall art for an office hallway.

“The cool factor on the original brochures is through the roof,” Mirmiran says. “She also gave us a stack of old Baltimore Sun ads, which we put on Instagram.”

Under Caves Valley Partners’ stewardship, Cross Keys is nearly fully leased since the completion of close to $175 million in upgrades, renovations, and expansions. That includes a new luxury apartment complex, Sanctuary at Cross Keys, being built by Questar Properties.

“We never thought we would get to 100 percent office leasing, but people want to be here,” says Mirmiran.

It’s not just the offices that are full. Kiddie Calvert was an early arrival, bringing youthful exuberance and a stream of young parents. Foodies flock to new eateries like Nine Tailed Fox, Kneads bakery and coffee shop, and Always Ice Cream Company, located at the new standalone extension near the upper-level parking lot. Mexican restaurant Luna Oaxaca occupies Donna’s former spot overlooking the retail area, and the buzzy Cece’s Roland Park includes seasonal seating in the Village courtyard. Easy Like Sunday and ZaVino, an Italian market, round out the dining options.

When Sanctuary at Cross Keys opens this fall, the six-story complex will house 331 luxury rental apartments, a resort-quality pool, a pet-grooming salon, and 24/7 concierge service.

“It’s going to be a great asset to the community,” says Penny Lane, owner of Pilates House, which moved into Cross Keys last September.

When Lane was looking to expand her Pilates studio, she knew Cross Keys was right for her third location.

“There aren’t that many elevated shopping centers that have done a great job at curating their tenants in the way that Cross Keys has,” Lane says. “With more opportunities for shopping, browsing, and having lunch and coffee, Cross Keys has become more of a destination rather than just a drop-in, drop-out location,” she adds.

Schneider says her mother, “Mrs. D.,” who died in 2023, held hope until the end that Cross Keys would come back—it just needed someone who believed in it.

“Cross Keys needs specialty owners who bring quality merchandise and exemplary service,” Schneider explains. “That’s what Caves Valley is trying to sustain in Baltimore.”

Since the renovation, Schneider has seen an increase in foot traffic and use of the store’s playroom while families wait for lessons at the Baltimore School of Music or for dinner reservations. She knows online shopping isn’t going anywhere, but Schneider learned from the master—her mother.

“Retail is entertainment,” she reflects. “People want to touch it and see it.”

Ruth Shaw, Baltimore’s one-of-a-kind source for European-style designer brands, opened in Cross Keys in 1973. Ray Mitchener, who bought the boutique from Shaw with Brian Comes in 2008, remembers the early Cross Keys days. “It was the place to go and to be seen,” he says.

But, “In 2017, Cross Keys and our sales were dying,” Mitchener says. He and Comes made the hard decision to move to Kenilworth that year. When Cross Keys returned to local ownership, it didn’t take much to convince them to return to the store’s roots. Fittingly, Ruth Shaw, which reopened in Cross Keys in April 2025, took over the former Store Ltd. spot.

“In the 1970s and ’80s, Cross Keys was unique because it had so many female owners: Betty Cooke, Kitty DeVincentis, Octavia Dugan, and Ruth,” Mitchener notes. (Shaw died in 2024 at age 96.) He and Comes are excited that Cross Keys is, once again, a place where people can spend the whole day.

“There is no place like home,” says Comes. “Our window dressing for our re-opening referenced different quotes [about] home.”

He chuckles that their homecoming was something of a resurrection—literally. “Customers have come in since we returned who I assumed were dead because I hadn’t seen them in seven years!” he says.

Building out the complete community feel, Mirmiran contracted with Misty Valley Farms to have a farm stand in the parking lot opposite The Village Square. Now locals can get produce, fresh-cut seasonal flowers, and pick up CSA boxes there.

It fulfilled a dream co-owner Sally Fleischmann had since she visited Cross Keys post-COVID. “I loved the energy there,” she recalls. “Our Cross Keys customers are very loyal,”

Fleischmann continues. “It’s a unique shopping experience. People bring their pets to meet us and bring iced drinks to us on hot days. It’s a community where we take care of each other.”

For Caves Valley Partners, that community has always been the point.

“Cross Keys was part of Baltimore, and it had gone dark,” Mirmiran says with pride as he strolls past the shops and restaurants. “When I walk around Cross Keys, people thank me for bringing it back.”

This article first appeared in our May 2026 issue. If you connected with it, consider becoming a print subscriber. 

With almost daily changes at the renovated Cross Street Market in Federal Hill, there’s a lot to keep track of. We caught up with master developer Arsh Mirmiran of Caves Valley Partners to give us the 411 on the revitalization project—which currently offers everything from coffee and candy to pizza and pho all under one roof—and the yet-to-open vendors slated debut by spring.

What’s the story behind the retro sign outside of Cross Street Market?
The current form of the market is in many ways a modern interpretation of the 1952 iteration of the facility. [The market was rebuilt after a 1951 fire.] The signs outside are a modern interpretation of the original neon signage that was part of the new market in the 1950s. They were designed by a local, but nationally renowned, firm called Younts Design owned by Ronnie Younts. The reintroduction of natural light to the formerly bunker-like market was through the removal of block that had been used to fill in the original windows.

Are there any fascinating facts about the history that you can share?
Anecdotally, the market building that burned down in 1951 had a basketball court on its second level and many South Baltimore residents and children played up there for fun.

Which current tenant has been around the longest?

Fenwick’s Choice Meats opened with the newly constructed Cross Street Market [after the fire] in 1952. Steve’s Lunch opened roughly a decade later, in 1964. We are excited to have their legacies preserved in the new Cross Street Market.

How do you account for the food hall trend across America?
Back in the day, people went and did their grocery shopping and got raw materials at the market, but with the advent of the grocery store that functionality went away. Cross Street had become like a bad mall food court, but the vendors were selling so little produce and seafood that the quality of what they put out wasn’t good anymore. With the increasing urbanization of cities and more people living downtown in dense areas, food halls have become more like gourmet grocers. It’s not a place to go do your grocery shopping, but it’s a perfectly good place to go and get everything you want for a dinner party.

What’s the difference between a food hall and a food court?
To some extent, it is subjective. There is a “you know one when you see one” aspect to it. We have pledged from day one that Cross Street would remain a market. While we lost a certain number of our true market vendors, we are going to have even more market offerings than the facility did before. With Fenwick’s Choice Meats remaining and able to increase its offerings and inventory due to increased traffic and returning customers, Annoula’s Kitchen offering fresh baked goods, Atlas creating what will surely be the single best seafood market in the Baltimore area with Atlas Fish Market, and the recent addition of Rooster & Hen, a true farm store, Cross Street Market will be a place which one can purchase any typical market offering.

How does the renovation of Cross Street fit into the scope of the other city markets being renovated?
The city and the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation (BPMC) have made the renovation and revitalization of the public markets system a priority. Some markets (including Lexington and Northeast) are being handled directly by BPMC, and some markets (Broadway, Cross Street, and Hollins) are being renovated through public-private partnerships. Interestingly, Baltimore has one of the best markets infrastructures I’ve seen in the country.

How do our markets compare to other cities?
Since working on Cross Street, I’ve visited cities with highly acclaimed markets—it’s become part of our travel plans in my family—and I’ve discovered that we have a more robust market system than many other cities. Baltimore has more neighborhood markets than any other cities I’ve been to. Many cities like Seattle and San Francisco have one market as opposed to a system of markets. We have a really great market system. We’ll have the one big anchor market with Lexington, but we’ll also have tentacles that reach into the neighborhoods to augment that market. Our markets weren’t just plopped here, they’ve always been here serving our city.

Why was it decided to allow Royal Farms a presence when no other chains are represented?
Quite simply, Royal Farms Chicken is an iconic local food product and it is a Baltimore City-based business with deep roots in the Baltimore community. The company’s willingness to adapt their concept to be a true market stall gave us great comfort that they’d be a successful and a welcome addition to the tenant mix.

What can patrons look forward to as the holiday season approaches?
We will be improving our holiday displays relative to recent years and working to make the market a special and festive place for local residents and tourists to visit. We hope to improve on these displays as the years go by and we hope that Federal Hill regains its spot as the most festive neighborhood in Baltimore during the holidays. We also intend to have a true grand opening celebration once we are at full capacity next spring, with the opening of the Atlas Restaurant Group concepts and the remaining stalls that are being leased.

Which vendors are still to come?
Three additional vendors (Sobeachy, Old Line, and Burger Bar) will be open in September. Rooster & Hen, our farm store anchor across from Ceremony Coffee, will open later this fall. The Atlas concepts are all planning to open next spring and are currently under design by BCT Architects and Patrick Sutton. We have two additional letters of intent signed and are actively seeking to round out the tenant roster for the two remaining stalls. Our goal is to be at 100 percent when Atlas opens next spring.

What’s the one item you must try if you’re stopping by the market?

This is a tricky question with so many great options, but I am going to say the not-yet-unveiled flavor of Taharka Bros. ice cream that is being developed to be sold exclusively at Cross Street Market. The ideas being thrown around so far are that it might be named “Cross Street” and be a cross between two or more iconic Baltimore flavors. You’ll have to stay tuned as the team from Taharka develops the flavor to be sold at The Sweet Shoppe, another one of our legacy vendors.

Just one year ago, Towson-based developer Caves Valley Partners (CVP) announced that it would be redeveloping the South Baltimore staple Cross Street Market in Federal Hill. Controversy surrounded the project with merchants and residents who were displeased with the plans. At one point, CVP even decided to part ways with Cross Street Market all together following the backlash.

“There was a lot of resistance on the part of merchants who wanted to keep it open during the renovation,” said CVP developer Arsh Mirmiran. “They really didn’t feel like their businesses would be able to survive with a 10-month shutdown. We wanted to keep them as tenants, so we changed our design and decided to do it in phases while the market continues to operate.”

Phase one—the exterior demolition—kicked off earlier this month and was announced via an Instagram post. Mirmiran says the exterior renovations will be reminiscent of the market’s 1950s design with windows around the perimeter as it was following its reconstruction in 1952 after a fire tore through the building. 

“The neighborhood association did a poll, and someone said it has all of the charm of a juvenile detention facility,” Mirmiran said. “We are cutting all that blockage out and opening the market up to let it get a lot more natural light into it.”

The CVP team visited other markets throughout the country and in Canada and Europe. The two places they were inspired by most were Union Market in Washington D.C. and the Ferry Terminal in San Francisco. 

“While we took inspiration for the new design from markets around the country, we’ll still keep the local flavor of Baltimore,” he said. “From a pure design standpoint, we took it back to a modern interpretation of the way it was in its heyday.” 

Now that the major portion of the construction is underway—with the interior renovation set to begin in six to eight weeks—visitors will get to see it all unfold as it happens while enjoying the vendors who will remain open during the renovations. To ensure there is still a substantial amount of foot traffic in the market, CVP added four new pop-up stalls in November including modern barbecue restaurant Smoke, Sundays donuts, Prescription Chicken, and Gertie’s Yummy Yogurt Bowls. 

“By bringing in these pop-ups ahead of upcoming major renovations, the new merchants— expected to become mainstays in the redeveloped market—can meet their customers while driving additional business to the market as a whole,” Mirmiran said.

Josh White, the owner of Smoke, says he is excited about bringing his Baltimore County restaurant to the city, and even more ecstatic about the new plans for the market. He already has ideas for his permanent stall when the renovations are finished, including an exclusive menu—with items like Korean sticky ribs and chronic chicken salad—and even a late-night takeout window.

“We’re calling it Second-Hand Smoke,” he said. “It’s going to be ridiculous. The plans that they have for this place are not going to be like anything Baltimore has ever seen.” 

Aside from new merchants and windows, the market will feature new outdoor seating options complete with fans and heaters so that guests can enjoy al fresco dining year-round. 

There will also be new neon lighting throughout the interior to provide an old-school vibe that will pay homage to the history of the market.

“Back in 1952, there was a 6,000-person parade to celebrate the reopening of Cross Street Market,” Mirmiran said. “It’s a pretty cool sign of how important the market was to the city. We hope to make it that way again.”