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Last week's Warren Redevelopment Authority meeting makes clear something we've long suspected – that it is time for a clean slate for the property at 231-237 Pennsylvania Ave. W.
We aren't sure that will happen yet. We wouldn't be surprised if there is a lawsuit that prolongs this tortured process for another few months, but the end result should be the same, whether it happens now or in a year. The building needs to come down.
The fact that one of the sticking points is a $200,000 demolition bond merely confirms that outcome, in our opinion. Projects that are on solid financial footing wouldn't be fighting the bond so hard. City officials should have had the foresight to put the demolition bond in the original RFP for the project, but that oversight is ultimately immaterial in our opinion.
Demolition bonds aren’t exactly unheard of. State-backed mixed use developments often use demolition and site preparation requirements as part of the grant process. If a private developer takes over a blighted building but is unable to bring the project to fruition, the cash or surety bond guarantees money is available to tear the building down. The Warren Heritage Community Alliance instead proposes replacing the bond with a five-year phased redevelopment schedule, insurance requirements, progress reporting, written notice of defaults, cure periods, extensions for circumstances outside the organization's control and reversion of the property to the RDA if the project is abandoned or materially defaults.
The RDA has made clear it is ready to wash its hands of 231-237 Pennsylvania Ave. W. by proceeding toward demolition once already. Its members don't want to deal with the building five years down the road after further deterioration. That much has been made clear – and that's why the RDA wants the demolition bond as part of the deal. It doesn't want 231-237 Pennsylvania Ave. W. showing back up in a half-decade like a bad penny.
This development process has been tortured for years. It's time to put the building out of its misery and prepare the site for a new use that also, in the short term, addresses safety issues and drainage issues that are affecting neighboring businesses.