GLEN BURNIE, Md. — Drivers whose vehicles have been stranded inside the damaged parking garage of Empire Towers for over two months may finally regain access to their cars later this month.
Management at Empire Towers has recently informed vehicle owners that they plan to commence the retrieval of cars from the garage during the week of September 21. They express optimism that by the end of this month, they will be able to recover at least half of the nearly 50 vehicles that remain trapped.
The vehicles have been inaccessible since July 9, when significant structural damage was discovered in the parking garage amid ongoing, unpermitted construction work. Anne Arundel County authorities evacuated over 100 people from the 10-story office building and subsequently deemed it unsafe for occupancy. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported as a result of the situation.
In the weeks following the incident, engineers faced challenges in fully assessing the condition of the garage due to its instability. Assistant Chief Larry Schultz of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department previously noted that contractors struggled to access the garage safely, unable to enter beyond the halfway point due to dangers that necessitated additional shoring.
Efforts for emergency stabilization have been ongoing since then. According to the most recent update from management, the garage has now been reinforced with over 1,500 vertical shoring posts, and Phase 2 of the stabilization process is currently in progress.
However, the presence of these posts introduces an additional challenge: maneuvering vehicles safely through an area still considered an active construction zone.
Structural engineers will evaluate each vehicle individually to ascertain which ones can be safely extracted. Owners of the selected cars will receive directions from management and will need to provide keys and sign a liability waiver, allowing contractors and structural engineers to drive their vehicles out of the garage.
Once the vehicles have been removed, they will be relocated to a nearby site for owners to collect.
Drivers still don’t know condition of cars as 47 vehicles remain trapped at Empire Towers
For the first time, management has also confirmed that a small number of vehicles sustained damage due to the partial collapse of a concrete slab inside the garage.
Vehicles positioned beneath the impacted area may remain unreachable for what management describes as a “lengthy period of time.”
For those cars that cannot be retrieved in this upcoming removal process, management intends to provide owners with photos and/or video documentation of their vehicles.
This documentation, including confirmation that a vehicle cannot be accessed in the near future, could assist owners in negotiations with their insurance companies to secure additional rental-car coverage or potentially declare their vehicle a total loss.
Vehicle owners whose cars were damaged by the slab collapse are expected to receive photographs for submission to their insurance providers.
While owners previously received a $3,000 transportation payment while their vehicles remained inaccessible, the ongoing uncertainty has already led some families to make difficult decisions.
For instance, one mother of four had her 2025 Chevrolet Traverse trapped in the garage. Faced with an unclear timeline for the vehicle’s return and no information regarding its condition, she found herself contemplating whether to use the $3,000 for a rental car or to purchase another vehicle.
RELATED: Drivers still don’t know condition of cars as 47 vehicles remain trapped at Empire Towers
With her husband serving in the military and her children preparing to return to school, she informed WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii that she eventually opted to purchase another vehicle.
Anne Arundel County continues to provide updates, road closure information, and resources for affected businesses at aacounty.org/empiretowers.
