Marks Hopes To Spur Talks with Towson Commons Owners

(Updated 5:49 p.m.)—Having heard little from the new owners of the hulking, largely empty , Councilman is turning to the power of the pen.

Marks said Wednesday that he hopes to spur the owners into a dialogue by formally placing the building on the list of issues that will be examined by the county rezoning process that is getting underway and which takes place every four years. Doing so introduces the possibility of rezoning the building, a move that the owners would likely want to participate in.

"I talked to a number of people and I have no other leverage," Marks said. "I am sick and tired of driving by Towson Commons every day being an empty shell of a building and having no communication with its owners."

The 19-year-old property—which includes 100,000 square feet of retail space and 222,000 square feet of office space attached to an 882-space parking garage—is owned by a subsidiary of Horsham, PA-based Capmark Financial Group Inc.

Though the office space in the Towson Commons complex and the attached Lafayette building is thriving, much of the street-level retail space is a dormant row of empty storefronts along York Road and Pennsylvania and Chesapeake avenues.

Marks' move, one of  in the Towson area he is taking up in this cycle, doesn't necessarily signal a zoning change and isn't legally binding. What it does is draw attention to the property and send a message to the owners. Once an issue is raised with any property, the County Council has the power to rezone it.

"They don't have to testify," he said. "They don't have to meet with me, but as councilman I can propose zoning from commercial to agricultural."

Michelle Frank, asset manager for Capmark, said Marks has not reached out to her since she began there in September.

"I'm happy to work with the community," she said.

Capmark took over ownership of the building after foreclosing on Washington-based Western Development Corp., which had owned the building since 2005. Capmark then at a 2010 foreclosure auction. The sale was in February.

In recent years, Capmark has had troubles of its own. In September, the company emerged from two years under bankruptcy protection, according to the company website.

When the retail space at Towson Commons opened in 1992, its many tenants included Ruby Tuesday, Borders Books and Music, UNO Pizzeria and a food court. In May, Capmark with the major remaining tenant, AMC Theatres. Since then, the retail space in the building has sat empty, except for the street-level .

Frank said security and other costs led to the company breaking its lease with AMC. Talks with Towson University, which , have since broken down, she said.

"We have the right people on the ground looking and we will make the right deal, but we have not turned away any viable projects," Frank said.

Bryna Connelly, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore office of real estate brokerage firm Cushman and Wakefield, said the property has yet to attract new retail tenants.

"We don't have anything signed officially, but we're continuing to market the building and we're encouraged by the activity we've seen there," Connelly said.

Nancy Hafford, executive director of the , called the lack of any visible progress at Towson Commons "disappointing."

"Anytime you remove bodies from coming into the community, it has an impact," she said. "I'm sure it would have been great for to have the young adults coming out of the movie theater and running across the street into the clothing store."

Frank said she shares that concern, but "we need to make sure that we have the right mix of tenants to create synergy and create something that the community is proud of."