Ardmore, SAC, and developers are hot, hot, hot news topics.

We were on Fox 29 TV WPVI 6 ABC, and NBC10 (sorry can't find a link).

Tony Wood from the Philadelphia Inquirer covered us again, and Cheryl Allison from Main Line Life outdid herself once again. (We will post excerpts and links at the bottom).

So now what? We don't know. The Township says they will possibly choose again on March 19th, unless of course they have already made up their minds?

We urge them to go through a REAL public process, and maybe we won't have the feeling like we did last time, right? The feeling that a decision had already been made before we all spoke on how we felt as citizens and residents and taxpayers?

And we would like a more reasonable, scaled back plan given the fact that one developer has already bailed. Ardmore deserves better.

And in that vein, Mr. Mahoney needs to see his project from the perspective of others. It is not fair that the ordinance created for his comfort gets opened, changed, and reopened again. He was approved, he asked for changes, and he got a do-over. If he had started to build either of the times he was approved, he might be finished or pretty darn close to it by now. But he hasn't done anything. And we certainly do not feel that public monies should be used on a luxury building.

We encourage ALL citizens of Lower Merion to come forward now. After all, Ardmore is part of Lower Merion, and what happens or doesn't happen in Ardmore affects everyone.

Ardmore plans take step back
EBL and S withdraws from negotiations for transit center and business district project
By Cheryl Allison

Just when momentum seemed to be building for Ardmore redevelopment, the project has suffered a major setback.In a press release sent out early Tuesday, Lower Merion Township officials announced that the development partner they had selected two months ago has withdrawn from negotiations.

EBL&S Development of Philadelphia, chosen from among several development teams that submitted proposals for a new transit center and business district revitalization, told the township Monday that it was dropping its bid.

Company founder and President Edward B. Lipkin said a downturn in the credit markets forced it to back away.

"The financial markets have pretty much shut down for this type of project," Lipkin said in an interview. "I feel absolutely terrible," he said, but added, "I hope by allowing other qualified developers to re-bid the process, that we haven't slowed down the township too much."

Board of Commissioners President Bruce Reed didn't hide his disappointment at the developer's withdrawal. He said the board had been impressed by "the bold vision" Lipkin's team had presented. Its proposal foresaw the greatest amount of new development in the business district, and was the only one to propose building over the railroad tracks to create a strong new connection between Lancaster Avenue and Suburban Square.....Lipkin had been the first developer to put his name forward, even before the township formally released its request for development proposals last summer. He also had presented what everyone acknowledges was an imaginative plan. It included new commercial development in the business district, new parking facilities, new residential development for a wide range of incomes and ages, and a signature piece: a new transit center, topped by a hotel, and public atrium and walkway over the tracks.

But a number of citizens and community groups had cautioned that the plans were too grandiose. "This wasn't our first selection," said Alison Graham of North Ardmore. "My personal feeling was that this was Plan B redux," she said, referring to the aggressive township plan that citizens fought over a grueling couple of years.

....Save Ardmore Coalition President Sharon Eckstein said the group was "surprised" by Lipkin's withdrawal, but sees "an opportunity." "The main two things this calls us to do are to really look at Ardmore as one whole community and say, 'What plans do we see outside of the [township's] proposal process? What is the status of those other projects?'"

A number of other projects have been proposed. "They all impact Ardmore. They all bring density to Ardmore," Eckstein said. "We should decide how much we want and then move slowly and reassess – but move ahead on the train station."

Be realistic, Ardmore planners urged
By Anthony R. Wood
Inquirer Staff Writer

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...."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."