Tony Iaquinto outside his shop, which has been a staple in Wyndmoor for 56 years. (Photo by Elizabeth Coady)

by Elizabeth Coady

Maybe if the original offer had been better things would have turned out differently. Maybe if the offer was higher, the new mixed-used development going up at 909 Willow Grove in Wyndmoor would have extended all the way east to Elm Avenue and Anthony “Tony” Iaquinto would have shuttered Tony’s Pizza City after more than a half century of serving up slices.

As it was, though, the offer that came from the developers of the 8,000-square-foot retail and condominium development along Wyndmoor’s central business district was a financial affront, at least according to Iaquinto, totaling a mere $240,000 for the combined property and business. The discussion to sell his restaurant at 901 E Willow Grove Ave. ended there, Iaquinto said, leaving him the sole holdout on the block not to sell to Jay Overcash and his partners Gus Repetto and Bill Casey in the new retail complex.

“It was basically an offer that was extremely insulting, totally to benefit the developers,’’ said Iaquinto, 61, during a brief interview inside the local eatery. “So when I refused their offer, I was told that if someone wanted to put a Tony’s Pizza City next door to me, that he would have to do it because he would be collecting his rent.’’

The new development, scheduled for a Spring 2019 opening, is the future home of four upscale establishments (with another one likely coming) including Enza, an upscale pizzeria and wine bar that is part of the Zavino Hospitality Group operating restaurants in Center City, University City, Bryn Mawr and Washington, D.C.

To Iaquinto, the inclusion of the Italian pizza restaurant seems suspicious. But Gabe Amzallag of MSC Retail assures there is no petty underhandedness at work, and that Overcash, who declined to be interviewed, is a silent partner in the Zavino hospitality chain.

“It just happens that it’s a pizza concept,’’ said Amzallag, whose company has signed boutique fitness studio Pure Barre, a coffee lounge called Locals, and Captain Andy’s Market to multi-year leases at the property. “But, again, it’s like putting a Bertucci's with a dollar local shop. It’s very different ….I think that they’ll still be able to coexist, but I’m sure [Iaquinto’s] not thrilled about it.

Of Overcash, he said, “At the end of the day I don’t think he has any animosity’’ toward Iaquinto.

Amzallag, 31, said Iaquinto later came back to Overcash after the architectural plans were drawn ready to accept the original offer.

“He asked an exorbitant number that the developer wasn’t willing to pay,’’ he said. “I don’t know what that exorbitant amount was. … This guy thought he was in a stronger position than he was.’’

But Iaquinto flat-out denies ever making a counter offer, waving off the claim with a “nope, never, never discussed. I will never sell to them. I’ll sell it a dollar less to somebody else but I’ll never sell to them.’’

The result is bitter feelings and Overcash being forced to re-imagine his original plans of extending his project the block’s full length. The new structure going up at 909 Willow Grove adjoins Tony’s Pizza City on the east, and the future home of Captain Andy’s Market shares a wall with Tony’s Pizza City on the west side.

The resulting aesthetic is not quite as jarring as Atlantic City’s notorious ‘Vera Coking’ developer conflict. In the late 1970s, Bob Guccione offered to buy the boardinghouse at 127 South Columbia Place for $1 million so that he could build the Penthouse Boardwalk Hotel and Casino. But when the owner refused to sell, Guccione built a steel frame around the house intending to proceed with the casino. His plan didn’t work out when he was denied a gaming license.

A photo of the three-story house, bought for $20,000 in 1961, framed by steel, remains an iconic symbol of the David versus Goliath development battle.

The Wyndmoor dispute pales in comparison but is enough to have caused locals to briefly take sides. Springfield Township Commissioner Jeff Harbison, who lives near the development said, there have been “far more people excited about the project than opposed to it’’ at township meetings.

“Some of Tony's customers backed his resistance to the project,’’ he said in an email. “But more people supported the project than resisted it.’’

Iaquinto said of those township meetings that the developers “weren’t very nice. I wasn’t very nice.’’ He also said construction around his restaurant has made restaurant access harder and his sales decline.

“I’ve had fences around my building, sidewalks going for about a year and a half or longer,’’ he said. “People can’t access, people can’t park on the side street.’’

The project’s original plan called for the 10 condominiums to be rental units, but the developers changed that when the community showed resistance to the rentals. Harbison said the “most serious concern’’ in the community was whether the project had adequate parking. The developers satisfied that worry by entering an agreement with a nearby business to provide 34 spots for overflow parking.

The 10 condominiums, priced from $455,000 to $525,000, are being sold by the Sivel Group, a division of Berkshire Hathaway Fox and Roach. The new retail businesses located on the first floor are scheduled to open in spring of 2019.

“It is heartening to see investment in Wyndmoor's business district,” Harbison said. “The development will improve property values and provide us with several new and exciting gathering places.”

Iaquinto said he’s “all for progress — progress needs to happen around here.’’ But his vision of the area included “nice storefronts, maybe some mom and pops.’’

“Going back to the old days here in Wyndmoor, you would come Saturday and all the merchants would be out in the street talking, whether it be about taxes, politics, whatever,’’ he said. “It was a very tight-knit community. And people would not sell what others were selling. Everybody did something different. And it’s changed so much with the influx of new people moving in.’’