Glen Burnie landmark gets massive makeover ; Overdue upgrades displace some tenants at Empire Towers

Within a year, Daljit Sawhney is hoping to restore the Glen Burnie landmark to its former glory. When the Glen Burnie doctor bought Empire Towers in January, he already had a plan to turn it around. Now, those renovations are in full-swing. "We want it to be the pride and joy of Glen Burnie like it was in 1974 when it was built," Sawhney said.

Tall, bright and beautiful.

Brightsie Stroud remembers when 10-story Empire Towers was the premier location for office space in Glen Burnie.

"It was beautiful, it was something that people wanted to move in to because it was the address that people wanted people to come to," said Stroud, who has run an insurance and investment business on the first floor since February 1977.

Stroud also remembers the building's descent as the former owner, facing financial setbacks, left it badly in need of upgrades. Several dissatisfied tenants left, leaving about 40 percent of the building empty today.

Within a year, the building's new owner Daljit Sawhney is hoping to restore the Glen Burnie landmark to its former glory.

When the Glen Burnie doctor bought the 146,000-square-foot office building for $3.1 million in January, he already had a plan to turn it around. Now those renovations are in full-swing.

"We want it to be the pride and joy of Glen Burnie like it was in 1974 when it was built," Sawhney said.

Construction workers scale the building on a platform nearly every day, starting over $5 million worth of outside-in improvements.

John C. Porter Jr. of J C Porter Construction said his work crews repainted the facade and re-caulked and tinted the windows to improve energy efficiency.

Porter said they will add a canopied portal to improve the building's "front presence."

The exterior and interior work, including replacing flooring and painting, will wrap up by the spring, Porter said.

The lobby, bathrooms and areas in front of the elevators on all floors will be renovated. Carpet and ceilings will be replaced, and then Porter said they will add a state-of-the-art fire alarm and sprinkler system and make the building more handicap accessible.

Porter said they will improve the "flow" of parking and add full security staff.

The renovations also will fix aged pipes that burst over a recent weekend, flooding several floors.

"We're evaluating the entire building and upgrading things that make sense," Porter said.

Those upgrades mean some long-time tenants, such as the Empire Barber Shop on the first floor, will have to shift around to make room for bigger tenants and bigger plans.

Sawhney is hoping he'll find a full-floor tenant once he consolidates a few offices that take up only part of the floor.

"But we're doing it with their cooperation," Sawhney said. "We're trying to give them incentive to move."

Mike Marcellino, who has owned Empire Barber Shop for 10 years, said moving to a different space was not worth it.

When Sawhney asked him over the summer to relocate the 30-year- old business to another floor, Marcellino decided to move out entirely.

"The landlord didn't want a barber shop in the lobby," Marcellino said. "It wasn't suitable so I decided to leave."

He now rents a chair at Shear Delight on Crain Highway and said business isn't affected.

"Even people who worked in the (Empire Towers) building have been following me," he said.

Sawhney was "good enough to let him out of his lease," Marcellino said. He paid rent until the end of October, but had already moved out weeks earlier, leaving only a pair of blue leather barber chairs.

The recently vacated space will become a security and management office in the new lobby, Sawhney said.

"He can have space, and I can move on with my business," Marcellino said.

The remaining tenants are eagerly awaiting the long overdue upgrades.

"I'm just watching things as they happen, getting nicer by the day," Stroud said.

"Empire Towers is a landmark in Glen Burnie," said David Fischer, whose law office is on the third floor. "It's always been the prime location for office space in northern Anne Arundel County so I'm glad that they are putting resources into improving it."

Fischer said he chose to place his firm there because "you don't have to give directions to get to Empire Towers."

Sawhney said he will preserve the history of Glen Burnie, but assured that "it will be a Class A building by the time we're done."

"Now I ride up Ritchie Highway coming to the building (on the way to work)," Stroud said. "It's absolutely wonderful to see it tall and bright and beautiful again."

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