Developer withdraws from Ardmore renewal project

Less than two months after the Lower Merion Township Commissioners selected him to revive Ardmore's moribund downtown, developer Edward Lipkin has abruptly pulled out of the $300 million project.

"We feel terrible about it," Lipkin, president of Philadelphia-based EBL&S Development, said today.

Citing tightening credit markets, he said he feared delays in securing financing, prompting him to make the decision last Friday. He was "very suspect" of any oral commitments, Lipkin said, including those he had received from two major backers, whom he declined to identify.

"The project is too significant to put off," he said.

EBL&S also has suspended work on "pre-development" projects of similar scale in New Haven, Conn., and Orlando, according to Lipkin. The decision will not affect the company's 50 other projects nationwide.

His proposal for Ardmore had featured a six-story office tower and boutique hotel straddling the Main Line train tracks, which divide the Lancaster Avenue business district from the more prosperous Suburban Square mall. The entire project, including the controversial Transit Center, was expected to add about $7.5 million to Lower Merion's property-tax base.

"It really pains us to do this," said Lipkin, who has lived in the township more than 25 years. "This one has a real emotional significance to me."

"I think everyone is disappointed," said Commissioner Elizabeth Rogan, chairwoman of the township's Economic Revitalization Committee. "But it's not going to stop. We're going to go forward."

She said that the three other development firms that had submitted proposals - BET Investments Inc., Strategic Realty and Dranoff Properties - are still interested. That was confirmed today by the company presidents, BET's Michael P. Markman, Strategic's Peter H. Monaghan and Carl Dranoff, all of whom said they would resubmit their applications. Bruce E. Toll, chairman of Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., owner of The Inquirer, is principal of BET.

"We will be ready and willing to assist in any way," Lipkin said.

Some who had expressed reservations about the scope of the proposal welcomed a chance to reexamine the redevelopment plans.

"We envision Ardmore improved, but not changed drastically," said Sherry Tillman, owners of Past*Present*Future, a craft shop on Lancaster Avenue.

The Revitalization Committee plans to discuss the future of the project at a meeting Wednesday at 7:15 at the township building.

In addition to the hotel and office tower, Lipkin's ambitious plan had called for about 700 residential units ranging from affordable housing to luxury condominiums, 44,000 square feet of retail, a 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.

Rogan noted that Lipkin had worked hard to sell his proposal to Ardmore businesses and residents, including Ardmore's African American community.

"That's one of the things that really impressed me," Rogan said.

Redevelopment in Ardmore has had a volatile history. Three years ago, a township plan - including the potential demolition of properties through eminent domain - drew such heat that the commissioners who had backed it were voted out of office. The current board then began the search for new proposals.

Lipkin's ideas weren't universally accepted. Wary of his proposal to build a hotel over the railroad tracks, three commissioners backed Dranoff.

Carla Zambelli, vice president of the Save Ardmore Coalition, an activist group that had fought the original township plan, called Lipkin's withdrawal "totally unexpected."

Nonetheless, Save Ardmore members said, it might provide an opportunity for the township to reassess the project and consider proceeding on a piecemeal basis.

"Instead of a huge revitalization," said Zambelli, "from my personal perspective, taking it in steps is just common sense."

"Everybody wants it to happen," said Tillman of Past*Present*Future, "and everybody wants to get it right."