Towpath House in New Hope may go condo

Five-building complex as seen from South Main Street, New Hope (Photo: Charlie Sahner)

By Charlie Sahner

The restaurant portion of the five-building complex bordered by the Ingham Creek, Delaware Canal and West Mechanic Street is now called 'Tuscany', and before that it was 'Esca', but most still remember it as the 'Towpath House'. It sat directly across the canal from Johnny Francis' Canal House, and at one time both were bustling nightly with large, loyal crowds.

The Canal House and adjacent businesses are long gone, and in their place stands builder George Michael's largely unfinished and unoccupied townhouse complex overlooking the dry, crumbling Delaware Canal.

And now Towpath landowner Paul Licitra has indicated to Borough Hall that he will be submitting a sketch plan for Borough Council to review at their August meeting -- a plan widely expected to take the form of a residential development.

Licitra confirmed that conversion of the property from mixed use to residential is being contemplated.

"I can't provide much detail at this early stage, but I can say that we intend to improve the property and make it an asset to the neighborhood," he said.