WYOMISSING, Pa. – The future of the Berkshire Mall will be the focus of discussion later this week in Wyomissing.

Peter Abrams from Montgomery County-based Abrams Realty Group is expected to share conceptual plans for the mall’s redevelopment during the borough’s Economic Development Committee meeting on Thursday at 9 a.m.

Meeting documents posted to the borough’s website show a shopping development anchored by a 152,000-square-foot Costco with a fueling area at Woodland Road and Paper Mill Road. Numerous retail storefronts are shown at the center of the development, and the existing Boscov’s remains at the opposite end of the property. A two-story Dick’s Sporting Goods store, as well as a health care facility and a child care center, are also depicted on the conceptual plans.

Wyomissing Mayor Fred Levering said any plans presented by the developer at this stage are drafts only and not finalized.

A fiscal impact summary included in the meeting documents outlines the proposed development’s potential tax impact on Wyomissing Borough and the Wilson School District, but not all the businesses included in that summary are depicted in the conceptual plans.

Abrams has recently expressed interest in securing “tax increment financing,” or a TIF, to help fund the project. A letter dated March 4 from L3 Advisors – a real estate economic development consultant – evaluates a 20-year TIF structure to support $15 million in financing for the redevelopment.

The TIF would allow future gains in real estate value to be used now to pay for redevelopment costs. The program was first developed in 1990 as part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s TIF Act.

In a TIF district, the base assessed value of the property is set at the time the district is created. As new development is constructed and assessed property values increase, the real estate tax revenue generated on the assessed value above the base is captured. The net increase in assessed value and correlating real estate tax revenue is the “incremental tax revenue” available for purposes of the project.

Part of the discussion expected to happen Thursday will look at whether the projected tax increment sufficiently supports the the proposed financing.

Abrams is under contract to purchase the 60-acre property from Namdar Realty Group. The mall and its remaining tenants have been plagued by problems that span from stormwater issues to safety concerns, which led to parts of the parking lot being closed last year.

Last month, the borough threatened to close the mall if repairs to its HVAC system weren’t made.