‘Shroud of mystery’: Baltimore County’s ballooning bill for an agency headquarters

Lia Russell

The Baltimore Sun

September 23, 2024

In January 2022, Baltimore County spent $2 million to buy a 12-acre property near Towson’s Loch Raven neighborhood to serve as park space and as a headquarters for the Department of Recreation and Parks.

The 1301 Cheverly Road property, which had served as a Baptist church and as a preschool in the past, has sat vacant for more than two years.

Now, the county expects to tear down the property and spend an additional $7.5 million to rehabilitate a downtown Towson office building it bought for $5.8 million last year from a Pennsylvania broker. Two members of the Baltimore County Council accused County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s administration of keeping them in the dark, despite the council discussing the purchase at two meetings and unanimously approving it in May 2023.

The six-story building in downtown Towson appears to be one of the county’s most expensive recent acquisitions for its size, according to purchasing records. Demand for office space has also plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic, saddling the county with an expensive building it likely won’t be able to sell or lease anytime soon.

At the same time, Baltimore County anticipates a budget shortfall, calling into question why it is planning to spend up to $15 million on two buildings, according to David Williams, the president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, a fiscal watchdog group.

“The [downtown Towson building] acquisition wasn’t in the capital budget, but completed as a year-end expenditure,” Council Chair Izzy Patoka said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun last week. “It adds a shroud of mystery. It seems odd to me we didn’t know we had a need for a new building.”

In his budget message in May, Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat, criticized the administration for its secrecy surrounding the sale of 305 Washington Ave. in Towson, complaining that the county had kept the council on a “need-to-know” basis.

The council discussed the building sale at its April 25, 2023, meeting. Two county officials told them the property was move-in ready and agencies could relocate there by the end of summer 2023, citing a need to immediately house new staff hired during the pandemic.

County property management chief Debra Shindle said the building would provide much-needed meeting and office space for agencies including Recreation and Parks, the Office of Law, police department, Department of Corrections, Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the Department of Economic and Workforce Development. She said the building was move-in ready and that renovation costs would be “minimal due to the excellent condition of the property,” according to fiscal notes and video of the meeting.

Former County Administrative Officer Stacy Rodgers, who retired in April, said the county would terminate the sale if it found any structural issues or costly maintenance during a 60-day feasibility study in response to a question from Republican Councilman Wade Kach about whether the county would assess the building’s condition before closing on the deal.

“If there were things that we found that were problematic, that could incur huge expenses,” Rodgers told Kach. “Then no, we would not go forward with the completion of the sale.”

Despite the hefty price tag for its size compared with other recent county building purchases, the council unanimously voted to approve the sale a week later, on May 1, 2023. Then-Council Chair Julian Jones, a Woodstock Democrat, thanked Rodgers and Shindle after the vote for answering the council’s questions and following up with supporting documents to address their concerns.

The county did a full building and site inspection and completed the sale last October, according to county spokesperson Erica Palmisano.

Councilman Mike Ertel, a Towson Democrat, said in an interview Wednesday that the escalating renovation costs alarmed him.

“We didn’t just buy a $5.8 million building. We bought a $13 million building,” he said. “It’s one thing to level with us, but we weren’t given full information. It’s disappointing in the sense that ultimately we’re supposed to be a check and balance but also a partner [with the administration]. But if we’re given half information, or information left out, it doesn’t feel like the way we should be operating.”

In an email, Recreation and Parks spokesperson Gregory Wallace said the department decided to move to 305 Washington Ave. after it was “found to be the most suitable and most efficient use of taxpayer funds,” and that top agency leaders had since relocated to that building, with more to follow as “work is completed.”

Williams said the building sale was questionable considering the plummeting demand for office space since the pandemic. He also questioned whether the county had done its “due diligence” in proceeding with the sale despite the swelling repair costs.

“Someone along the way didn’t tell the truth or they didn’t do their job,” he said. “The bigger question is, do they understand the market? It’s a government contract. Why not look at all options available, and go with the most competitive bid?”

Olszewski said the county was still finalizing the total cost of repairs and defended the purchase.

“Baltimore County has been transparent with council members throughout this process and continues to communicate with all stakeholders as plans develop,” he said in a statement.

According to a capital improvement plan, Baltimore County intended to spend $3 million in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 on moving Recreation and Parks to the Cheverly Road location. The council approved the county’s purchase of the property for $2 million in November 2021, according to meeting minutes and state property records. The county bought it on Jan. 5, 2022, with assistance from Program Open Space, a Maryland Department of Natural Resources fund that helps local jurisdictions acquire and maintain green space.

Patoka, who became council chair last January, said he did not recall voting to approve the Cheverly Road sale until a Sun reporter contacted him last week.

“We [the council] are going to need clarity on it. It’s puzzling to me why we’ve invested so much in this property,” he said.

In a June 28, 2024, letter to the Department of Natural Resources, Patrick McDougall, the Program Open Space county coordinator, signaled a change of plan and said Baltimore County anticipated developing a park at the Cheverly Road location, “with an assumption that the large site structure will be razed,” referring to the 21,000-square-foot building there.

Patoka, who is eyeing a run for Olszewski’s job in 2026, said he expects the council to reexamine the county’s real estate acquisitions.

“We’ve got to get tighter on our capital program,” he said. “Why spend this much? These are all questions we’ve been asking.”