Berwyn development agency urges demolition and offers new loans to spur downtown reuse

Berwyn — The Berwyn Development Corporation (BDC) asked the city council committee on Jan. 27 to authorize work on architect reports and to pursue demolition and redevelopment of several city‑owned commercial buildings on Stanley Avenue, and outlined a suite of financing tools it said would help attract restaurants and other commercial tenants.

Dave Holzberg, executive director of the BDC, told aldermen the city now owns three contiguous properties on Stanley — 6609, 6629 and 6639 — and that two of the buildings are in poor condition. "What we'd like to do is take them down, start to improve that area," Holzberg said, recommending using tax‑increment financing (TIF) dollars for demolition and to prepare redevelopment plans.

Holzberg said the middle property (the former Comcast building) has extensive mold and deterioration, while the Allied building (6629) is in better physical shape and could have adaptive reuse potential. After discussion, council members conducted a nonbinding straw poll; several aldermen said they favored clearing the entire lot to offer a "clean slate" to prospective developers, though some members favored preserving the Allied building for possible redevelopment.

Why it matters: The properties are part of the city's downtown inventory of large, long‑vacant structures that city staff say are driving concentrated vacancy. Holzberg argued that presenting a cleared parcel could make the site more attractive to buyers and save costs by demolishing contiguous buildings at once.

Financial tools and developer requests: Holzberg also updated the council on several related items: a small Harlem Avenue lot (the former Harlem Lounge), a rezoning proposal near Ridgeland, and a larger West Windsor redevelopment where the developer seeks work‑live flexibility to secure financing. On the Harlem site (a 30‑by‑135‑foot parcel), Holzberg said the BDC would market the property for either commercial sale or, if council prefers, pursue rezoning to R4 for multifamily — but he warned that parking will be a constraint for a music venue or other commercial uses.

BDC loan and restaurant program: Holzberg proposed a "restaurant forgiveness" loan that he described as an example $300,000 loan forgivable over 10 years, with one‑tenth forgiven for each year the space remains a restaurant. "The thought is that once you create a space as a restaurant space, the improvements are going to be there for the next guy or gal," Holzberg said. He called the arrangement a lien on the property to protect the community interest and distinguished it from the existing "finish line" grant, which is a smaller matching program with different time requirements.

Holzberg also described the BDC's revolving loan activity: the BDC has a $4.2 million line of credit available from local banks and currently holds roughly $850,000 in active loans across several projects. He asked whether council was comfortable with the BDC renewing a loan in a "heritage" parking‑lot redevelopment so the BDC could preserve liquidity and continue making loans; aldermen asked for budget caps and requested full loan packages when an item returns to council for formal approval.

Details and next steps: Holzberg said demolition and redevelopment proposals will be brought back with architecture and cost estimates. Any loan approvals or major budget redirections would return to council for a formal vote; Holzberg said he expects a purchase‑and‑sale agreement, redevelopment agreement and zoning actions for some projects to come as a single packet to the council in February. He also noted that some financing and TIF restrictions limit which funds can be used and that any permanent rezoning is a text amendment or zoning action the council must approve.

Aldermen asked for additional materials and cautioned about the city acting as a lender. Several members expressed support for targeted demolition, creative parking solutions where feasible and moving quickly to market city‑owned parcels.

Heard at the meeting: "If council said they wanted a clear slate and take all three of them down, we can absolutely do that," Holzberg said. On the financing question, he said BDC staff will prepare full loan packages and legal briefs for council review before any loan is renewed or approved.

The BDC presentation will return to the council with formal recommendations and supporting materials for any demolition, rezoning or loan actions.