Be realistic, Ardmore planners urged
When Nancy Gold heard that developer Edward Lipkin had abruptly withdrawn his $300 million plan to revive downtown Ardmore, she was flabbergasted.
When Nancy Gold heard that developer Edward Lipkin had abruptly withdrawn his $300 million plan to revive downtown Ardmore, she was flabbergasted.
But she was not surprised.
Gold, who owns the King's Collar Shirtmaker shop on Lancaster Avenue and is past president of the Ardmore Business Association, said Lipkin's vision had been too ambitious, especially in a weakening real estate market, and would have taken too long to execute.
One of 12 people testifying last night at a public meeting on the prospects for revitalizing Ardmore's business district, Gold described Lipkin's pullout this week as an opportunity to rethink the project, and she urged Lower Merion Township commissioners to choose a more realistic alternative.
"We need a doable revitalization project that can be delivered in a timely fashion," one designed "to help the small mom-and-pop businesses who have been holding on by their fingernails," she said before an audience of about 30 in the township hall.
The commissioners are reconsidering proposals from the three developers who lost out to Lipkin in early January: BET Investments Inc., Strategic Realty and Dranoff Properties. Bruce E. Toll, chairman of Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., owner of The Inquirer, is principal of BET.
Executives of those companies said Tuesday that they were enthusiastic about resubmitting proposals.
The township was "very impressed" with the proposals, Commissioner Elizabeth Rogan said.
When Lipkin withdrew, the three companies "were as surprised as everyone," said Bruce Reed, president of the commissioners.
The three were invited to make presentations at the next meeting, March 19, and a decision could be made that night, Reed said.
"Precious time has been lost," said Gold, "and we must be careful not to be held captive by another decision that cannot be brought to fruition."
"Our business owners are getting impatient," said Christine Vilardo, executive director of the Ardmore Initiative, a business advocacy group.
However, Vilardo agreed with Gold that Lipkin's withdrawal might have been the best thing for downtown Ardmore.
"I know there's anxiety," she said. "There may be people feeling frustrated. There may be some of 'I told you so' out there. We went after the big, ambitious project, so this is an opportunity for us to be realistic."
The Lipkin plan featured a six-story office tower and hotel built over the Main Line train tracks that separate the struggling Lancaster Avenue business district and the prosperous Suburban Square mall.
It included 700 residential units, an 11,250-square-foot community theater, and a 6,000-square-foot train station, for which a $5.8 million federal grant had been secured.
Citing a tightening credit market, Lipkin said he and his EBL&S Development firm had bailed out because of delays in securing financing.
"Construction loans are even more difficult to get than mortgage loans," said Kevin Gillen, a real estate expert at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Gold said redevelopment had been a hot issue in Ardmore since she moved her business from Center City in 2000.
A township plan that included the potential demolition of properties through eminent domain drew such heat three years go that the commissioners who backed it were voted out of office.
That set off the search for proposals by the current board.
While some businesspeople and activists were wary about the Lipkin plan, they agreed that it had generated excitement.
"We were enthusiastic about the boldness," said Vilardo, but "we were concerned about the feasibility of it."
