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The Cambridge City Council voted unanimously to ask owners of long-vacant buildings to come before the city council to discuss next steps for their properties in a resolution that specifically called out Gerald L. Chan, the billionaire real estate owner and Harvard donor who owns the former Harvard Square Theatre.

The vote is a step forward for several groups, including the Harvard Square Business Association and the city council, who are looking to pressure Chan into action over his long-delayed plans to redevelop the theater — a large building on Church Street that has sat vacant for 13 years.

At a committee hearing last month, councilors floated the idea of establishing fines for the owners of vacant property to reduce the problem generally, although they have not since taken any action toward such a policy.

That discussion did, however, catalyze Monday’s resolution to invite Chan to testify, with Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern citing the vacant theater as an egregious example of harmful vacant property in the city.

“It’s the heart of one of the busiest commercial districts and most important commercial districts in our city,” McGovern said.

“The vibrancy of our squares are really dependent upon businesses being there,” Councilor Ayesha M. Wilson said. “The theater, being such a historic space, is something that we can’t turn a blind eye on.”

While the policy order originally targeted Chan alone over his vacant theater, councilors agreed to amend the order to include the owners of 22 other properties that have sat vacant for five years or longer, at the suggestion of Councilor Paul F. Toner.

Councilors, residents, and business owners at the hearing all emphasized that the shuttered Harvard Square Theatre particularly detracted from visitors’ experience of the Square because it is so large and central to the area.

The Harvard Square Theatre first closed in 2012 after AMC sold it to local developer Richard L. Friedman. Chan then bought the building from Friedman in 2015, and put forward a proposal two years later for its redevelopment into a multi-use complex that would include storefronts, movie screens, and office space.

That plan received conditional approval from the Cambridge Historical Commission, but Chan never took the proposal to the Cambridge Planning Board.

Since 2019, the project has stalled.

Dan White, the manager of Chan’s investment firm which owns the theater, blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the company’s lack of action in a statement to the Crimson.

“Our previous plan, which was well received and on its way to final approval, was derailed by the pandemic, requiring us to reappraise what might work best for the site,” White wrote. “We continue to work diligently on these efforts.”

Ivy Moylan, executive director of the nearby Brattle Theatre, said at the hearing she and her team had tried to speak with Chan regarding his intentions for the Harvard Square Theatre, but had never been able to make contact.

Moylan called the theater “a blight on a beautiful, historic street.”

While the order ultimately received support from all councilors, Toner and Councilor Catherine “Cathie” Zusy both criticized the original draft for targeting Chan too directly.

“I don’t think shaming is the best way to motivate people,” Zusy said. “We want to partner with Mr. Chan. We don’t want to humiliate him.”

Suzanne P. Blier, president of the Cambridge Citizens Coalition and professor of fine arts and African and African American studies at Harvard, offered a rare defense of Chan during public comment, calling him “a generous individual who cares very much about Harvard Square.”

Many of the dozen public commenters on the vacancy issue emphasized their personal fondness for the theater and the “bohemian” character of the area it represented, while urging the council to take action.

“It’s an emotional connection that people have,” McGovern said during the hearing. “It has such an incredible history and has meant so much to so many people, particularly those of us who grew up here.”

—Staff writer Jaya N. Karamcheti can be reached at jaya.karamcheti@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at kevin.zhong@thecrimson.com.