More than a decade ago, Baltimore County politicians unveiled the latest development in Towson’s revitalization — an $85 million movie theater and restaurant complex to make the county seat more like Bethesda as a dining and shopping destination.

Now, all of Towson Square’s restaurants are gone, though the cineplex continues to do a brisk business. BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse closed in 2023, then World of Beer, followed by On the Border Mexican Grill and Cantina last March. Nando’s Peri-Peri, the first to open, grilled its last Portuguese-style chicken in July.

“Everybody thought it was going to be a home run,” said Ken Mills, CEO of the Baltimore County Revenue Authority, which owns many downtown parking garages. “Why didn’t it work? That’s a much larger discussion, and a much more complicated one.”

Does local ownership matter?

Cordish Companies developed Towson Square with Heritage Properties Inc., both locally based. Originally, the plan was to include offices to support the parking garage and restaurants during the day; developers removed the offices from the plan, though.

David Cordish, who is The Banner’s landlord, did not respond to an email about the development.

In 2015, a year after the development opened, Cordish and Heritage sold it to Retail Properties of America, a real estate investment trust. In 2021, Retail Properties of America merged with Kite Realty, a $7.5 billion behemoth that manages 185 shopping centers that include 32 million square feet.

Towson Square went from a jewel in a local management portfolio to one of many businesses in a national one. Still, even national companies don’t relish losing money, so why hasn’t Kite leased out the space?

Representatives from Kite didn’t respond to calls. But the development’s financing may explain why owners have not felt the pinch.

Kite lost money in its third quarter of 2025. Instead of mourning that loss, in a call with analysts, John Kite said the company “viewed the recent wave of bankruptcy-driven vacancy as a value creation opportunity.” Both World of Beer and On the Border, which anchored several Kite Properties, filed for bankruptcy.

Projects like Towson Square are financed with non-recourse loans, a kind of secured debt in which the borrower does not have to pay back the money if they default. Instead, they just forfeit the real estate.

“Kite Realty is other people’s money,” said Wayne Gioioso Jr., president of Mid-Atlantic Properties, a major investor in downtown Towson real estate. “Some of the projects are not going to work, but if eight out of 10 work, they’ll make money.”

Gioioso uses non-recourse loans in his business. The difference, he said, is the money is his own. He can afford to accept less rent for a local business he really wants — like the Lib’s Grill he is planning for Court Towers, or the Aveley Farms coffee roastery on Chesapeake Avenue that he helped relocate from Harbor East.

“If you really cared about it, you would do it differently,” he said. “It’s elbow grease. You just get in and do what you need to do.”

Variety matters

Towson boasts 92 eateries within a one-mile radius of the circle. Many are thriving.

Towson Tavern, next to the square development, has long waits for a table on weekends; Red Pepper has a large following for its spicy food; 7 West has become a go-to destination for wedding celebrations (it’s just two blocks from the courthouse) and graduation parties. Boisterous crowds at Barley’s Backyard pack the roof deck on warm nights; Bandito’s and Papi’s cornered the taco market.

“People come to Towson to mix it up a little bit,” said Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce. “People are looking for the independently owned places.”

Hafford said part of the reason is that Kite Realty has mixed up the mix. Towson Circle, just next door, has Shake Shack and Sweetgreen, but also Urban Outfitters. Those appeal to both college students and the office worker lunch crowd.

Towson Square surely fell victim to national trends during and after the CoVID-19 pandemic — fewer workers coming downtown daily and inflation-strapped families tightening eating-out budgets.

But because Towson restaurants generally are doing well, the specifics of what Towson Square offered are important, said Councilman Mike Ertel, who represents the area.

“A Bonefish Grill? I do not want to go there. I’ve never been there in my life. World of Beer? The service went downhill. On the Border? Why go there when you have Banditos?” he said. “If you consistently put a good product on the table, you’re going to do well in Towson.”

Suburban design fails urban places

Compounding Towson Square’s problems was its seeming disconnection from the rest of downtown, despite being just steps away.

The restaurants faced a circle (despite being called a square). Hafford, Mills and Ertel had hoped that area could become a concert plaza, the way The Avenue at White Marsh and Hunt Valley Town Center have. But the Baltimore County Fire Department balked at the initial plans, citing safety, and the developers never came back with a new one.

“I would have liked to have seen them try to make it work,” said Mills, adding that doing so might have required shaving off some of the space available to rent.

Thousands of residents can walk to Towson from dozens of neighborhoods around it. Yet many drive. Towson has parking issues that White Marsh and Hunt Valley do not.

Moviegoers and diners can park in the Cinemark garage for $2 with validation, yet some patrons don’t like to pay for parking, no matter how inexpensive.

(Perception of) crime doesn’t pay

The Towson Square vacancies, coupled with three retailers leaving the Towson Town Center mall, have fueled online speculation that an increase in crime is to blame.

Large crowds enjoying Thirsty Thursday discounts at the downtown bars prompted police to increase their presence. Three months ago a woman was stabbed in a domestic-violence incident in the mall parking lot. Separately, police arrested a 15-year-old at the mall for an assault with a screwdriver. Three men were arrested last January for a carjacking outside the mall.

Yet the county dashboard shows that overall monthly crime in the downtown Towson ZIP code was essentially flat over the past couple of years. Reported cases averaged 158.7 per month in 2024 and 160.6 in 2023. Data isn’t available for all of 2025.

“When I watch the news, All I see are stories about the demise of Towson because we can’t sustain a Banana Republic,” said Ertel, citing the recent mall closing. “And the reality is, there are several things going on.”

Brandon Moody leads Block Blazers, a large running group that tackles Towson’s hills weekly. Moody said he’s never afraid running through Towson and thinks the Towson Square businesses closed because they didn’t cater to a college town that also has robust neighborhoods.

“Maybe if they were a bit more strategic and deliberate,” Moody said. “There’s a lot of mom-and-pops that do really well here.”

It’s not too late

Local officials are not giving up on the square.

Hafford said she has talked with Kite about a better mix of retail and local options. She meets regularly with businesses and the police department to make sure they’re all informed.

Ertel is planning more discussions with the county economic development office about Towson-specific remedies.

Gioioso, who began buying Towson real estate in 2011, is optimistic that more local developers like him will get involved, too, if out-of-towners are willing to sell.

One bad real estate story is not a death sentence, Gioioso said — just a sign the patient could use better medicine.

“Towson’s got a cold,” Gioioso said. “It doesn’t have cancer.”

This article has been updated to correct the style of chicken served by Nando's Peri-Peri.