Detroit officials say they are trying through a consent agreement to force the owner of the city's third-tallest skyscraper to better maintain the property that has had maintenance and other issues recently.

The city is entering into the agreement with Triple Properties Inc., the Toronto-based owner of the 47-story Penobscot Building to bring it into compliance with city code within an undetermined time frame, Jessica Parker, chief enforcement officer for the Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department, said Monday in a statement to Crain's.

"A misdemeanor ticket already has been issued and a round of blight tickets are being issued today," she said. The misdemeanor ticket is for failure to maintain safe conditions, and lack of a certificate of compliance and report on the condition of exterior walls.

John Roach, director of media relations for Mayor Mike Duggan, said that there have been 15 tickets issued to the Penobscot Building owner since October totaling $5,015 in fines for things such as not having a certificate of compliance, interior debris, and unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Of that, six tickets totaling $3,300 in fines were issued Monday, he said.

Terms and timelines of the consent agreement are still being hashed out, he said. Ticketing would cease if it is being complied with, Roach said. Ticketing would resume and the city may seek other legal action if the owner doesn't comply.

This represents a fresh blow for the 1 million-square-foot skyscraper at 645 Griswold St. downtown.

Four months ago, it was announced that the iconic, 568-foot tower topped by a red globe is losing Strategic Staffing Solutions, its second-largest tenant which is moving to the Fisher Building in the New Center area. Three weeks ago, WDIV-TV (Channel 4) reported on what it called "parts of the building (that) are in disarray and could be a danger to workers" based on photos sent to the television station.

Also last month, a small fire forced the evacuation of the building. No one was reported injured.

While the downtown core's array of mid-rises, high-rises and skyscrapers have received hundreds of millions of dollars worth of renovations in recent years to accommodate new and growing office users, comparatively little has been done with the Penobscot Building, which opened more than 90 years ago. The owner has previously said that improvements have been made to things including elevators, windows and HVAC systems.

"We are working together with the city to resolve the issues," Steve Apostolopoulos, managing member of Triple Properties, said Monday in a text message. "While the matter is before the courts, it would be inappropriate for us to comment."

He declined to elaborate further, but did say around 7 p.m. Monday that his local property manager had not been issued tickets that day.

In 2012, Triple Properties beat out Dan Gilbert and others in a bidding war for the Penobscot, paying just $4.8 million cash, or less than $5 per square foot. That deal came just three years after Triple Properties paid a meager $583,000 for the Pontiac Silverdome property more than 30 miles north.

According to CoStar Group Inc., Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service, the Penobscot Building is 57.5 percent occupied, with its largest tenant, Wayne County Friend of the Court, taking 121,000 square feet. Asking rent in the Smith, Hinchman & Grylls-designed building is $18 per square foot per year.

The Penobscot is shorter only than the 727-foot Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center on the Detroit riverfront and the 619-foot Ally Detroit Center (formerly One Detroit Center) skyscrapers, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

The Pontiac Silverdome also became blighted under Triple Properties ownership, and ultimately was the subject of an agreement in court between the company and the city that resulted in the demolition of the former Detroit Lions home. Demolition began in December 2017 with a partial implosion that initially failed. The second attempt at the implosion succeeded the following day.

The site is now expected to become an Amazon distribution facility.