Crumbling Empire: Law firms displaced after Glen Burnie office tower condemned

Attorney Mitchell Greenberg was out of the office last Thursday when his paralegals called from Glen Burnie: Their office was being evacuated after they heard a “big boom” and felt the 10-story building shake.

A partial collapse in the underground garage had made Empire Towers structurally unsafe. The law office’s staff left with only their keys and personal items, but the person telling them to evacuate had instructed them to leave their laptops.

“I don’t think anyone expected this to be as big as it is,” said Greenberg, who for the past week has been running his practice out of a patient room in a medical center down Crain Highway.

The assortment of law firms, medical practices and other offices at Empire Towers haven’t been allowed back inside for a week, as a structural engineering firm evaluates how to stabilize what was once the county’s tallest building. Lawyers said that they’re unable to access important documents and have difficulties meeting clients as they’ve been forced to either telework or relocate their firms into awkward emergency offices over the past week.

About 100 people who were in Empire Towers’ offices were ordered out of the building last week when it became compromised; Anne Arundel County officials said the building became structurally unsafe during unpermitted construction work in the garage.

The county has blocked off a 150-foot safety perimeter around the building in case it collapses. Remediation work hasn’t started yet, but the first phase is expected to take 10 to 14 days, and the second phase’s timeline “cannot be established until the contractor can assess the extent of the work needed,” according to a spokesperson for County Executive Steuart Pittman. Both stages must be completed, and a professional engineer must certify the building as stable, in order for the safety perimeter to be lifted, she said.

Originally built in 1975, the building is now owned by Glen Burnie physician Dr. Daljit S. Sawhney and managed by his family. He did not return messages seeking comment.

Uncertain of when they’ll be able to get retrieve items from their offices and frustrated with their landlord, some longtime tenants are now weighing whether they have a future at Empire Towers.

But in the short term, being forced to relocate has given them a variety of logistical issues to figure out fast. Their landlord offered up some temporary space in Crain Towers, a six-story medical center that’s also owned and managed by the Sawhneys.

Greenberg had to buy new computers for his small staff and is paying for their rental cars. His actual office has a backlog of mail that he and his staff can’t get to. And he can’t stay at the temporary one for the full workweek — on Fridays, the doctor is in.

“It’s frustrating; it’s aggravating,” he said.

Attorney Todd Mohink, who manages a practice that occupies about 4,000 square feet on Empire Towers’ ninth floor, has been working out of a conference room in Crain Towers. He said Empire Towers being condemned has had a “dramatic effect” on his ability to operate his business.

Clients who call the Law Offices of Todd K. Mohink’s main number are greeted by a live answering service, but the firm’s actual phone lines are still in a vacant office. Their temporary space is “not set up to meet with clients right now” — it has one desk but is otherwise unfurnished, there are sinks in every office, and it’s generally “not appropriate” for a law office, the managing attorney said. He said “the biggest thing is, we’re spending about $25,000, [which] we’re hoping insurance will recover, just to get our computers and network set up.”

“The whole situation, quite frankly, is disgusting,” Mohink said. He said he’s concerned about his ability to return to Empire Towers and “quite frankly, about clients being comfortable coming into the building” after it’s stabilized.

“I think the fairest thing that could happen in terms of evening the scales would be for [the landlord] to give everyone the opportunity to get out of their lease, regardless of the terms of the lease so that people can start looking,” he said. “Because the truth of it is, no one knows.”

Greenberg, who has operated his solo practice at Empire for 11 years and just renewed his lease, said he and several fellow tenants are seeking other options. Although he said he tends to go with the flow, he has staff who are “quite bothered” by the situation, and he doesn’t like not having answers.

At the very least, the lawyers of Empire Towers “have a really good relationship” and have been helping each other figure things out, Mohink said.

“Everyone gets along pretty well,” he said. “That, I think, is really important.”

This story has been updated.