Council selects new owner
Building connected to Broad Theater to be sold to Broad Street Pizza owners
It came down to a rare 5-4 split decision by Souderton Borough Council, but father and son Davood and Davide Sowhangar, the owners of Broad Street Pizza, will be the new owners of the building next to the Broad Theater.
The borough took over ownership of the theater and neighboring building after previous owners Broad Entertainment LP, which had planned to reopen the theater along with adding restaurants, defaulted on an economic development loan through the borough and there were no bidders on the property when it went to sheriff sale earlier this year.
When the borough put the neighboring building up for sale, it got two bids — one from the Sowhangars for $250,000 with a plan to move their neighboring business from a rented space into a portion of the building next to the theater, along with having other commercial uses rent part
of the building, and one from Barbara Smith-Johnson, owner of Ark Animal Hospital, for $200,000 with a plan to make a vibrant public market including retail, restaurant and gathering spaces and a rooftop restaurant.
Supporters of Smith-Johnson’s bid, who made up the majority of the speakers at the Nov. 6 meeting, said the plan would make the town a destination and be a business incubator.
“The market model would not only attract patrons into our borough but keep customers here for extended periods of time and keep them returning,” resident Robert Brecker said.
Resident Matthew Carvaugh said he and his wife like to buy local and go to places where they can see
different things that people make.
“These markets give great places for that to happen in,” he said. “We travel to other towns because of that.”
The public market plan is an opportunity for the town to grow and bring people from the outside into town, he said.
“You need something that is going to impact the community, and I think the market can do it,” Carvaugh said.
In answer to comments that the Sowhangars’s plan would simply move an existing business, Davood Sowhangar said that’s not all that would be happening.
“We are from this town, too, and we have worked very hard in this town,” he said.
“We don’t like to see that section being dead, either, so we would like to do something to make that corner a happening place,”
he said. “It’s not just based on a pizza shop just enlarging your business. We have a vision also that I think is going to be great.”
Both the Sowhangars and Smith-Johnson previously said they would like to have connections between a reopened theater and the neighboring building and businesses. The borough has not yet put the theater itself on the market, but last month was briefed by a potential buyer on plans to restore and reopen it.
In a prepared statement at the Nov. 6 meeting, board President Brian Goshow briefly reviewed the two offers and plans from the Sowhangars and Smith-Johnson.
“There is not a bad plan here. Both applicants have put time, effort and resources into developing good plans,” he said.
The council members make their decision based on factors including the bid
amount, the plans for the building, viability and expected construction timelines, he said.
Board member Richard Halbom then made a motion, which was seconded by board member Jeff Gross, to approve the Sowhangar bid.
Board member Tracy Burke said both bids were valid concepts, but most of the residents he’s talked to preferred the public market plan.
“I’ve heard people say that Souderton’s never going to be another Doylestown or another Easton or some of the other places where these very vital public markets exist. But Souderton doesn’t have to be those towns. Souderton is unique right now and we have the potential to become even greater and yet keep the character that we have in this great borough,” Burke said. “I personally be-
lieve that the public market concept represents the desires of the people of Souderton.”
Council member Ned Leight said he is a Broad Street Pizza customer, as well as a customer of other pizza businesses in the borough, but he, too, favored the public market plan.
“All the pizza in town is good, but its not going to bring the people from Skippack or Ambler or Doylestown here,” Leight said.
Even though the Smith Johnson bid was for $50,000 less, it might be the better offer in the long run, Gross said.
“If you take a property and you infuse it with a lot of life and energy and you make this community a place that people say, ‘That’s the place I want to live,’ that makes the property values go up for each person that owns property,” Gross said. “The $50,000 could go a lot farther in other ways when you bring something to the community that is a truly major asset.”
Board member Dan Yocum said he thinks Souderton is on the verge of being something great and that both business proposals could be successful, but his vote was for the Sowhangar bid.
“This is taxpayer money. Even though it was a grant from the state, it is still all of our taxpayer dollars,” Yocum said. “Because you are trying to purchase a government building, I feel very much obligated to award it to the higher bidder.”
In a roll call vote, council members Richard Godshall, Yocum, Goshow, Halbom and Kevin Souder voted in favor of approving the Sowhangar bid, with Leight, Gross, Dan Houser and Burke casting the dissenting votes.
Following the decision, there were groans from supporters of Smith-Johnson’s bid.
Carvaugh said he was disappointed and that the council decision was one in favor of “stagnation.”
“I would like to go on record to say I was disappointed for the community,” Smith-Johnson wrote in an email following the meeting. “They voiced their opinion and wishes for the public marketplace. They were not listened to by the council and I feel sad about that. This was for our community.”
Davide Sowhangar said he wanted to thank the council for hearing out the proposal, which he said is “to create an innovative space for the people of Souderton to come and visit with their family.”
“We promise the people of Souderton that we will give you a wow factor in that corner,” Davood Sowhangar said.