The area of downtown Towson that is now home to Trader Joe’s and Barnes & Noble is about to go through a major overhaul. It had already been announced that TJ’s was moving to The Shops at Kenilworth, but Barnes & Noble had said it was staying put and moving from two levels to just one expanded first-floor location.

But now employees of the Towson bookstore say the landlord has told them they need to move out. Barnes & Noble wants to maintain a presence in Towson, they said, but the news came as a surprise and so far no new storefront has been secured.

The building is owned by Retail Properties of America, which earlier this month won approval from the Baltimore County Design Review Panel to renovate the exterior of the property. Here is the rendering they submitted:

The land that is now a parking lot for Trader Joe’s and Barnes & Noble is being turned into 371 apartments and 75,000 square feet of retail space in partnership with developer AvalonBay.

Employees at Barnes & Noble said the store is scheduled to close in June. Trader Joe’s has said it will close its doors on March 16 and re-open at Kenilworth the next day.

–Kris Henry