This is my attempt at summarizing the saga that has been the city’s ownership of the properties on the northwest corner of 5th and Penn. Specifically, 431-449 Penn Street, which was comprised of 5 buildings of historic nature located within the Callowhill Historic District in the City of Reading. The City purchased these structures in 2013 for $2.5 million under Vaughn Spencer’s mayorship, presumably to gain control of the development opportunities in an area as prominent as Penn Square. At the time they made this purchase they were under Act 47, a program for distressed municipalities in which they complied to strict state oversight of their financial practices.

The Spencer administration put the project out to bid first in 2014, in which they chose a $4.68 million proposal by “Our City Reading”, headed by Albert Boscov, to redevelop the ground floors into retail and upper floors into apartments. Spencer’s mayorship resulted in federal bribery charges, and he lost reelection to Wally Scott in 2016. The relationship between Scott and OCR went south and the city cut its contract with the developer in 2017.

The projects went out to bid at least four more times since that separation. The only consistent bidder being Alan Shuman of Shuman Development Group, who now has quite a portfolio of properties he has restored in the City, including the Elks Lodge, the Medical Arts Building, the Berks County Trust Company and others. Shuman was denied twice by the Scott administration, due to personal vendettas ending with Scott publicly calling him the “Devil” in 2019. Am I the only one that remembers the billboards along 222?

After Eddie Moran beat Scott in 2020 for his Mayor seat, his administration also denied Shuman the chance at restoring the properties, because “the [Moran] administration believes the city can do better by putting out a new request for proposals“.

The exit plan from Act 47 stated that these buildings should be sold because it was going to cost the city $18 million over the course of 11 years just to maintain them.

The City officially exited Act 47 in 2022 and around the same time yet another bid for proposals went out for the properties. While proposals were being reviewed by the Moran administration, part of the roof of 431 Penn Street collapsed in Alvernia’s (previously the CNA building) courtyard to its west, prompting the area to be surrounded by metal construction fencing. While at this time it was known that part of these buildings may need to be razed due to decades of neglect, Reading’s Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) worked with the city to ensure that at the very least the facades of the buildings would be saved.

In January 2024 the City finally did approve the sale of the properties to “Philly Office Retail“, a Philadelphia-based developer who specializes in historic preservation. However, the sale has sat in limbo since this agreement due to a $34 million funding gap that needs to be met before the sale can go through. Philly Office Retail’s plans met HARB’s facade stipulations; they planned demolish most of the rear of the 431-435 structures and construct a parking garage behind them, with retail space in the front. In the 18 months since that agreement, the city has hired its own structural engineer to assess the properties who found 431 and 433 Penn Street were “a public safety concern” and ultimately razed it quickly after the unilateral decision this spring.

Last week the same engineer has now deemed 437 Penn Street a “public safety hazard” and the city has again made the decision to raze it. The strange part is that the structural engineer’s ruling was based on a 2022 assessment, while HARB referenced an assessment done as recently as late 2024 which stated the facades could be saved. Now HARB is demanding a new engineering report for the building before it can be demolished.

It’s likely that only the Farmers Bank and Colonial Trust Co. buildings have a chance at survival. Though, based on this June 30th Reading Eagle article, even that is now apparently in question.

Despite the opinions of the administration and some council members stated in the above article, I don’t view leveling this block as “progress”. Especially since, at least publicly, there are currently no plans to develop it.

“Continuing to preserve the buildings, considering their state of decay, is hamstringing future development of the parcels“, stated Jack Gombach, City Managing Director. “Gombach said the mayor’s actions regarding the properties have laid the groundwork for new investment, which should be viewed as something positive.”

It seems those parroting this opinion lack basic knowledge of the history of the city itself. Razing properties without any concrete plans has historically earned Reading empty lots for decades. For context, during the urban renewal era of the 1970s most of the 600, 700 and 800 blocks of Penn, which were once prime shopping district, had become dilapidated and were razed in hopes of redevelopment. None came immediately. Santander Arena was completed in the early 2000s and the Double Tree only about a decade ago. Do the math; the city was disjointed by vast lots for three plus decades while we waited around the redevelopment.

Also, the preservation of the buildings is hamstringing development progress? The course of the past decade seems to indicate to me that the City is the one who cannot get out of its own way.

It is worth noting that Shuman himself stated in a facebook post from June 19th that, “the bank branch and nine story building are in very solid condition and can absolutely be restored. There should be no discussion whatsoever in razing those structures.”

Having the main corner on the square a lot for any significant amount of time would be horrendous for the city. You can’t just level things and automatically assume something new will go up because the space is there. This is a great way to end up with a parking garage on the Square. As long as there is no plan, that always remains a possibility. Razing these beautiful bank buildings, which could and should be redeveloped into residential use, and replacing them with a parking garage would be an abomination.

Also, what new investment? Is there something we the public are not aware of? Who is chomping at the bit for prime real estate in the City of Reading? Reading was awarded the CRIZ designation earlier this year. Could that have anything to do with this?

Again, these buildings are in the Historic Callowhill district. Reading’s HARB exists to maintain the integrity of these historic sections of the city. Any other property owner is held to their standard when it comes to changes or demolition of any buildings in said districts. Why is the city not held to the same standard as other property owners? Why are they allowed to hire their own structural engineer to assess properties they seemingly want gone? Is this not a conflict of interest? Shouldn’t an independent entity such as HARB be handling some sort of oversight?

The argument I hear most on social media is “let Alvernia expand“. Yet as far as I know Alvernia has no plans to expand here. Alvernia already occupies the old CNA building, but to my knowledge has not developed all of the upper floor space. They also recently purchased the American House building on the southwest corner of 4th and Penn and are in the process of renovating that as well. My main concern with allowing Alvernia such vast ownership of the square is that nationally enrollment in higher education has been on the decline for years. Many colleges are closing campuses. I’m not insinuating that Alvernia is having financial issues. To the contrary I have heard they had their largest freshman enrollment within the past few years, and I am glad they have invested in downtown. Yet I am unsure that making the center of town a mecca for what seems to be overall a declining industry is a good long-term decision.

I made my thoughts clear on a previous article, “What Happened to Reading?”, but again I believe that all of these once-commercial buildings on the square need to be redeveloped into housing. If the passenger trains to Philly are coming back, and it looks like there is a very good chance they will, people are going to choose to live here due to affordability and commute. Fill the square with working people and businesses will follow suit.

The agreement of sale between the City and Philly Office Retail is set to expire at the end of the summer. My prediction is the developer will back out after the agreement expires and the city will be left holding the vacant lot they spent over a million dollars to create. No plan, no vision; just a hope and a prayer that someone will swoop in and want the now-devalued property at the expense of the tax payers. Even worse is the thought that someone else is already waiting in the shadows. Perhaps all of this being a ruse to manifest some sort of back-door deal. It’s hard not to wonder what is going on behind the scenes that has paved the way for all of this demolition to transpire within weeks after 13 years of hemming and hawing when it came to developing the already existing structures. What do you think? Is this just typical incompetency or something more sinister?

Read about the historic significance of 431 Penn Street and the Colonial Trust Company Building, I am going to profile the others next