Vehicles still stuck in downtown Baltimore parking lot after partial collapse – Baltimore Sun

Vehicles remain stuck in a downtown Baltimore parking lot months after the second-story ramp partially collapsed and blocked the entrance with concrete debris.

“Steps to stabilize the bridge are now complete,” a spokeswoman for Banyan Street Capital, a Miami-based real estate firm that owns the 45-year-old garage, said in an email.

The parking lot at 1 E Pratt St. partially collapsed at the entrance to the garage in late July. There were no injuries, damaged cars or cars stuck under rubble at the entrance.

Most of the building was stable, but there were 50 vehicles stuck in the garage days after the collapse. Owners are now awaiting clearances to remove vehicles from the upper level, the spokeswoman said.

“Plans are underway to allow Tier 1 and Tier 2 vehicles to be retired and will hopefully be done in early October,” she said. The cause of the collapse has not been shared.

The garage is managed by SP Plus Corp., a Chicago-based parking lot management company, which addressed questions to Banyan Street Capital on Thursday.

Structural engineers from the City of Baltimore oversaw the temporary shoring of the three-story garage immediately after the collapse. The fire department last inspected the garage in July 2017 and determined it met the city’s fire code. It was built in 1977.

Jason Hessler, deputy commissioner of permits and litigation for the Department of Housing and Community Development, said motorists were not allowed to take their vehicles out of the building.

Drivers with cars in the garage will have to wait for Standard Parking Plus updates to find out when they can pick up their vehicles.