Radnor Board: No Houses, Hotel at the Willows

On Monday the Radnor Township Board of Commissioners voted to move a number of proposals for the Willows mansion and cottage to the next phase in its search for a partner to take over the buildings' operations.

Not amongst those proposals to move forward were pitches for a boutique hotel and new houses on the township-owned property.

Local residential developer C.F. Holloway III had submitted a proposal that included building 28 homes.

Both proposals included building the new construction on part of the Willows park. On Monday, a majority of the commissioners said that they only wanted to pursue proposals that were renovations of the mansion and cottage and a small area of land around each.

Board president Elaine Paul Schaefer said she does not think it was the board's intention to solicit proposals to develop any open space or sell off any portion of the Willows.

"The goal of this whole process is to find a way to preserve the structures," she said.

The motion passed Monday was to move forward to the next phase with proposals from Jeffrey Miller Catering, Cross Street Capital, Open Aire Affairs, and Perfect Setting Catering. It also included soliciting an RFP from a catering company that only just learned about the Willows bidding opportunity, Conroy Catering.