LYNN – Time is beginning to run out for the Athanas family, owners of the former Anthony’s Hawthorne, to make a decision as to what they want to do with the long since vacant property.Situated in the heart of the downtown district, the family previously expressed interest in transforming the former eatery at 95 Oxford St. into a four or five story building that would contain parking underground, commercial space on the first floor, and residential units on the remaining floors.However, after months of little or no communication with the city, James Cowdell, Executive Director of the Economic Development & Industrial Corporation, said he is beginning to lose his patience with the Athanas family.”We have another meeting scheduled with the family toward the end of the month, but it’s getting to the point where the city is pushing for a decision,” he said.According to Cowdell, the Athanas family is in the process of completing a financial analysis to determine how much they would potentially profit from the project, how much it would cost to complete the project and to see if it’s even feasible to do in the first place.”So we have been patiently waiting for them to report back and let us know what they want to do next,” he said. “The family is reportedly working really hard with their architect (Steffian Bradley), so we are trying to come to a peaceful conclusion.”Cowdell said the family has also expressed interest in acquiring the former Whyte’s Laundry site located next to the main post office to create a parking lot, which would be made available for customers shopping at the proposed commercial spaces.The Athanas family hired the Boston architectural firm Steffian Bradley for the design and preliminary studies.However, before construction could begin, Cowdell said contaminants from the former laundry site would have to be removed.Cowdell said he is currently working with the Attorney General’s office on obtaining a not-to-sue covenant to get the current owner off of the hook so that the land could be transferred to the city and cleaned up with the help of a Brownfield’s grant.After it was decontaminated, Cowdell said the land would be paved over and sold to the Athanas family.The Whyte’s site has been an eyesore ever since the former owner Russell Goldsmith tore the building down in 2000 to make way for a proposed expansion to the post office.The plan came to a screeching halt in 2001 however, when the post office froze construction plans nationwide. The ban lifted in 2003, but efforts to acquire the property from Goldsmith never materialized.Regardless of future plans to obtain the Whyte’s site, Cowdell said the Athanas family has to come to a definitive conclusion as to what will become of the former popular restaurant.”There is going to come a time when something needs to be developed,” Cowdell said. “But right now, I still have one hand on the olive branch and I’m holding on to it tightly?so I’m still optimistic. But the city won’t wait forever.”City officials discussed the probability of eminent domain in the event the family refused to negotiate, but Cowdell has remained firm that all other avenues would be exhausted before that comes to fruition.Opened in 1937 by the late Anthony Athanas, the family also owned four additional restaurants, including Hawthorne by the Sea in Swampscott, and General Glover House, also in Swampscott, which closed 15 years ago and still remains vacant.The Athanas family was approached with two formal offers to purchase the Hawthorne last year, but a delayed response puzzled the city.