Baltimore County?s revenue authority Thursday voted to approve $18.2 million in public funds to build a new Towson parking garage, despite concerns existinggarages rarely reach capacity, sources said.
The agreement, which must be approved by the County Council, is the first between the public-private authority and a private developer, said the agency?s director, George Hale. Under the deal, the county would contribute $6.2 million to the revenue authority, which would provide an additional $12 million for a 630-space garage above the proposed $32 million Towson Circle III retail project bound by Joppa Road and Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia avenues.
“From my perspective, if something were not done at this time, that parcel that had been assembled would be lost,” said board member Merreen Kelly. “… I looked at it as something that was necessary for Towson to remain vibrant and not shut down at night, which is what it does now.”
Officials said the joint developers, Heritage Properties and the Cordish Co., have agreed to forgo a $3.2 million revitalization tax credit.
The garage would be the authority?s fifth, including one near the Towson library where there “is always spare capacity,” Hale said. That garage reaches about 60 percent capacity on business days and 10 percent during weekends and evenings, he said.
Hale said he expects the new garage to operate at 95 percent capacity on weekends and evenings, generating demand for the library garage and boosting its usage to 50 percent of capacity.
But Les Pittler, the sole board member to vote against the proposal, said he?s not convinced, citing the proximity of thousands of spaces in the Towson Town Center garages. Pittler also said he did not want to vote without reaching agreements with the developer on other issues, citing “too many unknown factors,” in a post-meeting interview.
The council is scheduled to discuss the agreement at its Oct. 9 meeting.
BY THE NUMBERS
The proposed $3.2 million Towson Circle III retail project would offer:
» a 14-screen movie theater
» 21,000 square feet of restaurants
» 10,000 square feet of retail
» more than 550 jobs
» $1.2 million in annual county tax revenue
Source: RESI
