{"id":15148,"date":"2025-10-26T01:07:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T01:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/15148\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T01:07:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T01:07:14","slug":"rep-manny-guzman-hosts-walking-tour-of-downtown-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/15148\/","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Manny Guzman hosts walking tour of downtown Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Downtown Reading has a lot of potential, state Rep. Manny Guzman says, and the City Revitalization and Improvement Zone, or CRIZ, is the tool needed to realize it.<\/p>\n

Guzman, a Democrat who represents the 127th District in Reading and Kenhorst, hosted a walking tour of the CRIZ Tuesday for members of the state House Democratic Policy Committee, local elected officials, community leaders, business owners and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cMixed-use development, retail, housing, you name it,\u201d he told the group. \u201cWe got the space to do it right here in Reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tour, which started at Guzman\u2019s district office, 645 Penn St., aimed to showcase business initiatives and economic development efforts in the greater downtown area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am incredibly enthusiastic about this tour,\u201d Guzman said. \u201cWelcoming colleagues to our city and collaborating to find new ways to support our city\u2019s growth and discussing ways to enhance and optimize community resources is always rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before heading west on Penn Street, Guzman pointed out two buildings in the 600 block being developed for mixed uses.<\/p>\n

\"StateState Rep. Manny Guzman leads local and state officials on a tour of the downtown Reading City Revitalization and Improvement Zone that includes the former Reading Trust building in the 500 block of Penn Street on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

The group next stopped for a look inside the deteriorated former bank building at 511 Penn St. The property has been owned by Crocodile Property Management of Reading LLC since 2015, according to online county tax records.<\/p>\n

Little effort had been made to maintain or develop the building before the city received CRIZ designation, Mayor Eddie Moran said. Since then, the owner has reached out to the city for guidance in rehabilitating and developing the property.<\/p>\n

The former bank building is just one of several derelict buildings on Penn Street in the heart of CRIZ.<\/p>\n

Guzman pointed out the leveled lots in the 400 block where two city-owned buildings were demolished due to public safety hazards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the issues that we have, that I know is not unique to Reading,\u201d he said. \u201cWe got a lot of buildings with a lot of good bones, but if we leave those buildings unchecked and do not take care of them with upkeep, we get them falling down.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third building at 435 Penn St. likely will need to be demolished, city officials noted.<\/p>\n

Another Penn Street building will be demolished, Reading officials say<\/a><\/p>\n

While it is too late for what has been lost, Guzman said, the focus is on developing the vacant lots and the landmark buildings at 443 and 445 Penn St.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould you imagine a brew pub here, a restaurant, something that brings people into the city?\u201d he asked, pointing to the open space. \u201cI can imagine it. And, hopefully, in five years, it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

All five parcels are owned by the city and are under an agreement of sale with Philly Office Retail.<\/p>\n

City Managing Director Jack Gombach said the city is hoping to include some new construction as part of the agreement.<\/p>\n

The city has until Friday to finalize the deal with Philly Office, the mayor said, noting he had no further comment.<\/p>\n

\"StateState Rep. Manny Guzman leads local and state officials on a tour of the downtown Reading City Revitalization and Improvement Zone on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

As the tour continued, state Rep. Gina H. Curry noticed deteriorating buildings occupied by small businesses.<\/p>\n

This sparked a question from the Democrat, who represents the 164th District in Delaware County.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of things going on here that you all want to see or envision, so what about the folks who are in buildings like that restaurant on the corner?\u201d she asked pointing to 400 Penn St. \u201cWhat happens there? Because, seriously, these folks don\u2019t have money to upgrade their outside look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guzman said that conversation needs to take place with city officials. Ideas might include building rehabilitation grants for small businesses or other community development programs, depending on available funding.<\/p>\n

Jamar Kelly, city deputy manager and financial director, said small-business owners and downtown property owners will benefit from the overall development and improvements in the CRIZ.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is limited direct benefit and maximum indirect benefit,\u201d he explained, noting increases in small business revenue are expected as CRIZ-incentivized development draws more people downtown.<\/p>\n

\"AlverniaAlvernia University President Dr. Glynis Fitzgerald talks with Peter Rye, chairman of the board for the Reading City Revitalization and Improvement Zone during a tour of the downtown on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

The group also visited Alvernia University\u2019s John R. Post Center at Reading CollegeTowne, 401 Penn St., and the American House at Collegetowne, 354 Penn St., where construction is underway on the Berks Community Health Center.<\/p>\n

When completed, the center will provide health care to Reading\u2019s underserved populations and experiential learning opportunities for Alvernia students.<\/p>\n

Alvernia University\u2019s health center project receives gift from Breidegam Family Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n

The tour ended with a visit to SuperNatural Produce, 235 N. Fourth St. and a discussion with owner Leopoldo Sanchez on small-business growth.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 29, 2025 at 2:30 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Downtown Reading has a lot of potential, state Rep. Manny Guzman says, and the City Revitalization and Improvement…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-15148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-essential-reading","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-reading","14":"tag-reading-city","15":"tag-reading-city-headlines","16":"tag-reading-city-news","17":"tag-top-stories-reg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}