Oak Tree Place update

First Cracker Barrel dropped out, now Golden Corral has walked away. Starbucks has also said "no thanks" after they decided to slow expansion. What's left? From the Post-Gazette:

Building permits for a Mexican restaurant, Chipotle, and an Aspen Dental office are about to be issued by the township. Also in the queue are Sawa Japanese Steakhouse and Five Guys Burger and Fries.

Construction should begin in a few weeks.

Oak Tree Place restaurants set

The Post-Gazette has a short article on the restaurants planned for the new Oak Tree Place on Rt 19. Since Cracker Barrel has backed out yet again, the lineup changed a bit. (The original plan had Cracker Barrel and another Starbucks.)

• Sawa Japanese Steakhouse -- There's another location in Monroeville. The township has already approved a liquor license transfer.


• Chipotle -- The national burrito chain that will give Moe's a run.


• Golden Corral -- The family steakhouse with a buffet.

Summit at Cranberry falls through

Not a huge surprise, but the 80 acre, 650,000 square foot Simon Property Group project has been shelved because of a lack of funding for Rt 228 improvements. From the Post-Gazette:

One of the biggest proposed retail ventures in the region may be dead, the apparent result of a stalemate between the developer and the state Department of Transportation.

After more than seven years of planning, Simon Property Group of Indianapolis has notified local, county and state officials that the firm has decided to "withdraw from development activity" and spend no more money on the project that was to have brought a sprawling mix of retail, office and residential development to an 80-acre tract at Route 228 and Interstate 79 in Cranberry.

Joseph Dubovi III, district executive for PennDOT's District 10, said the agency is not surprised by Simon's decision and is moving forward on plans for incremental improvements to Route 228 instead of the broader plans the agency had demanded if the Simon mall plan would have advanced.

Scaled-back 228 plan shot down

With a $20 million difference between current funding and what's needed for the full Route 228 plan, Cranberry Township scaled back the proposal. PennDOT has now said that plan is unacceptable.

"Plan B is not acceptable right now to the department,'' said Joseph P. Dubovi III, department executive of Indiana-based PennDOT District 10, during a meeting at the Marriott on Route 228.

Facing a funding shortfall of between $20 and $24 million, Cranberry officials recently asked PennDOT for approval of a "plan B" approach that shaves several key components of the project that already had been approved by PennDOT. The township contends that the plan, though less than ideal, would be sufficient to handle transportation needs for 10 years and would salvage the $65 million that already has been committed to the road project.

The decision could mean that Simon Property Group of Indianapolis withdraws its plans for a 650,000-square-foot development of retail, residential and office space. The complex has been targeted for the north side of Route 228 at Interstate 79. The company had pulled together from a variety of sources a $65 million funding package for the road project, leaving a $20 million to $24 million gap.

PennDOT, which has allocated about $24 million in state money to the project, expects the funding gap to be closed by local and private investment.

The local chamber of commerce said it will mount an all-out lobbying effort to persuade the state either to close the funding gap or allow the scaled-back plans to proceed.

Road development updates

In an effort to save the Rt 228 Project and the new Simon Property Group mall, Cranberry Township has resubmitted a scaled down proposal for upgrades to Rt 228. A $20 million gap in funds have created a risk that the mall project will be abandoned taking the entire Rt 228 Project with it. From the Post-Gazette:

The current proposal is to [focus] improvements between Route 19 on the west and Castle Creek East Drive in Seven Fields on the east. The eastern terminus in the original plan would have been Myoma Road, farther east, in Adams. Also, Route 228 would be widened only between Franklin Road and Castle Creek, instead of adding through-lanes in each direction throughout the project area. In addition, construction of a loop road from Route 228 to southbound Interstate 79 would be delayed.

Those cutbacks would translate to a fully funded status for the remaining $65 million worth of work, including intersection improvements along the corridor, elimination of the tapering of the road east of Franklin, and construction of an overpass ramp from I-79 to the Simon development, as well as a ramp from westbound Route 228 to northbound I-79.

On the western side of Rt 19 is the Freedom Road bottleneck. To address the problems with that corridor, a public forum will be held to discuss the issues. Again, from the Post-Gazette:

There are two primary concerns: Those who own residential and business property immediately adjacent to Freedom Road want the land to be rezoned to a more intensive and economically valuable commercial use. Those who own residential property just beyond that are fearful of being next door to an even busier commercial corridor with no buffer between them.

A public meeting will be scheduled to seek input from property owners in the vicinity, and separate meetings will be set for the three study committees. Ultimately, their recommendations would be presented to the township's planning advisory committee, then forwarded to the township supervisors. No dates are set.

[Township planner John Trant Jr.] said all options will be on the table, from the extreme of a four-lane expressway to a roadway flanked by sidewalks and bike lanes. "It's all up for discussion,'' he said.

Hotel to replace Hereford & Hops

The vacant Hereford & Hops building along 228 won't be around much longer. The Pittsburgh Business Times reports that a firm has bought the building and land and will replace it with a hotel.

A newly created firm called Templar Development LLC has an agreement to buy the former restaurant’s building and six acres along Route 228. It plans to develop a four-story, 129-room Cambria Suites limited-service hotel.

Templar is paying between $4 million and $5 million for the property, said Mark Veon, a vice president of leasing with the Downtown-based company.

Hereford & Hops filed for bankruptcy protection last December and eventually closed this past May.

Shoppes at Adams Ridge update

Three more stores have been confirmed for the Shoppes at Adams Ridge according to notices and the companies' websites. This is in addition to other stores and restaurants that were announced in earlier posts.

Cribs to Teens - Offers infant and teen furniture as well as specialty clothing and gift items. According to their website, "We are the areas largest independent children's specialty store. What does that mean to you - we are not a chain store, a discounter, or a mass merchandiser. We strive to find the newest and best possible products available for your nursery at competitive prices." Their 3200 square foot store will open in mid September. They have one other store in Monroeville.

Volant Mill Winery - An award winning local winery located in Volant, PA that will offer their wines and other related gift items.

Gilded Lily - A gifts and collectibles shop with one other location in Evans City. "The shop offers everything from custom made silk floral arrangements and unusual outdoor and garden products to unique and varied framed prints, lamps and custom gift baskets."

McGinnis Sisters update

The McGinnis Sisters website has updated information on the new Adams Township location along Rt 228.

McGinnis Sisters Special Food Stores proudly announces plans to open our Adams Township location in mid August. We will begin interviewing prospective team members - Full time, Part Time and High school students - approximately July 10th however; we are accepting applications and inquiries now. Send resume/information to jennifer@mcginnis-sisters.com.

Readers of the Tribune Review Recently named McGinnis Sisters “One of the Top 250 Places To Work In Pittsburgh - Women Owned Business”. We offer competitive wages, team bonuses, an excellent benefit package and flexible scheduling.

The new 17,000 square foot store is located on Route 228 at the entrance to Adams Ridge and will offer our famous meat, seafood, produce and deli. Our beautiful cafe will be a great place for in store dining with free WiFi and cozy seating. Other departments will include a full service bakery, cheese department and specialty and conventional groceries.

Village of Cranberry Woods

Today's Pittsburgh Business Times unveils early information on the Village of Cranberry Woods, a mixed-use development that will sit next to the new Westinghouse complex. Not only is it expected to help serve the growth that Westinghouse will bring, but Westinghouse is being asked to offer expectations for this new development.

[Developer Don] Rodgers is planning a new mixed-use project featuring 200,000 square feet of retail, two hotels and an estimated 150 residential units just east of Cranberry Woods office park, the new headquarters for Westinghouse.

The Village of Cranberry Woods project is situated along a swath of property that fronts Route 228. It is being marketed by CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, which also helped bring Westinghouse and its new 915,000-square-foot campus to Cranberry Woods.

The Massasauga rattlesnake

Depending on who you listen to, the Massasauga rattlesnake (aka Sistrurus Catenatus) may be an inhabitant of Cranberry Township. Or it may not. That question may hold up a road project for a year or more and cost the citizens $10,000. More from KDKA including video.

A road construction project in Butler County is on hold because of rattlesnakes that no one has seen in years.

Work on Route 19 in Cranberry could be delayed for at least a year while the state looks for the Mississauga rattlesnake.

The state told Cranberry Township officials to survey the area for the creatures.

It can cost up to $10,000 for each search.

Officials say the snake has not made an appearance in Cranberry Township.

The Fish and Boat Commission was unavailable for comment.

Oak Tree Place

First mentioned back in November, Cracker Barrel has received approval to be built on the location that previous held the Oak Tree Motel.

On the immediate horizon is the Oak Tree Place development at the site of the old Oak Leaf Motel along Route 19 near Dutilh Road. It will include a Cracker Barrel restaurant, a Starbucks, a drive-through bank and retail shops.

The Oak Tree Place project, being pursued by Walnut Capital Partners, of Shadyside, could be open by June 2009. The project was noteworthy for more than just the tenants it will contain. Township officials said Walnut Capital voluntarily agreed to pay transportation impact fees not only to Cranberry, which it is required by law to do, but also to Marshall. The project is being developed on the municipal border.

The Oak Tree Place development will have 41,581 square feet of commercial space.

More renderings of the shopping center can be found at the Walnut Capital website.

In addition, a new 14,000 square-foot Rite Aid will be built on Freedom Road across from the Cranberry Mall.

Pizza Hut coming to Adams Ridge

Another piece of the Shoppes at Adams Ridge lineup has been announced - Pizza Hut. There's a small sign on site announcing the future location as well as various job listings. There's no projected opening date and no mention on Pizza Hut's official site.

Restaurant updates

The Post-Gazette today detailed two future Cranberry restaurants as well as a landscaping and garden center.

First off is Houlihan's (warning: annoying music), a restaurant and bar that already has three locations in the Pittsburgh area. It will be finding a home in the Streets of Cranberry as a stand-alone building in the front right of the shopping center. Houlihan's offers "classic American food" with a full bar.

Sir Pizza is a Pittsburgh chain that will be located along Commonwealth Drive. They offer pizza, pasta, subs and a six-pack shop.

The Barn Landscape Supply & Greenhouse will be located near North Boundary Park.

The developer, Bobby Colosimo, of Ross, said he's been planning the center for three years but has had to deal with sight distance problems. Mashuda Corp., of Cranberry, will use a special road-working machine to resolve the problem by lowering North Boundary Road six inches.

A 4,416-square-foot retail center will be constructed along with two outdoor display areas that will total about 11,000 square feet.

Mr. Colosimo said he hoped to be open by the fall planting season.

Cabela's says no to Cranberry, Pittsburgh Mills

Rumors from weeks ago have turned out to be untrue. Cabela's has decided not to explore opening a new store either at the planned Summit at Cranberry or Pittsburgh Mills. The Cranberry Township Development blog had a jump on this a few days ago and now the Tribune-Review has confirmed it:

"There are no ongoing discussions for either property," said John Castillo, a Cabela's spokesman.

Cabela's continues to consider hundreds of sites throughout the country, Castillo said

"I understand they (Cabela's) were looking at the Simon Property site [Summit at Cranberry] and they turned that down, and they turned down our site as well," said Stephen Zamias, CEO of Zamias Services of Johnstown, owner of Pittsburgh Mills.

Shopping, restaurant updates

The Post-Gazette ran a few articles today detailing some upcoming developments in Cranberry. Here's a quick list:

• Cracker Barrel will be coming to town. Originally, they were supposed to be located in "restaurant row" where Olive Garden, Red Robin, On The Border, etc. are located. That fell through, and now they'll try again on Rt. 19 where the Oak Leaf Motel used to stand. They'll be located just down the street from several other similar restaurants - Eat'n Park, Perkins and Bob Evans.


• Cranberry Promenade (second item down) , detailed last Spring in the PG, is expecting approval to begin building in the Spring. The grocer Aldi will anchor the mixed-use development along with a pharmacy and a couple banks.


• The biggest project on the list is the Summit at Cranberry. Required as part of that project are modifications to Rt. 228 to handle the increase in traffic. Currently, the developers are a few million short on the money needed to improve the roads. The project will proceed anyway and they hope to have the improvements completed by 2012.

Shopping updates

Two minor updates on local developments and their stores:

The Shoppes at Heritage Creek (across 228 from the Springfield Grille) hasn't announced its store lineup yet, but one store has registered with the Cranberry Chamber of Commerce: The Fig Tree, which is filed under the category of Specialty Food Market.

It has been confirmed that McGinnis Sisters special food store will be expanding to the Shoppes at Adams Ridge, as previously noted. They are hoping for a Spring 2008 opening.

I'm not sure what's with the overuse of the word "Shoppes".

The Cranberry Plan

The Cranberry Township Development blog has an interesting post on what's called The Cranberry Plan, the township's vision over the next 25 years to help deal with growth and change. There's a website set up and a brochure (pdf) that's been distributed. The blog author has been selected to be part of the Citizen's Advisory Panel and will be providing updates throughout the process. The first meeting is next week. It should be worth following.

Stone Pepper's Grill

Identified a while back as some sort of mystery store in the Shoppes at Adams Ridge was something called Stone Peppers. The mystery has been solved. Stone Pepper's Grill is a new restaurant that will be opening Winter 2008, according to their new website. The site includes this description:

The concept will be based on quality food at affordable prices, utilizing distinct dining and bar areas as well as outdoor seating. StonePepper’s Grill’s primary food platform will be premium pizza and pasta, gourmet burgers, and unique high quality salads. We will incorporate a brick oven and exhibition steam kettles into our cooking style.

We look forward to providing more exciting information as we get closer to the anticipated opening dates in Winter of 2008.

Our two new locations are Rt 19 South, Upper St. Clair, PA and SR 228 & Adams Ridge, Adams Township, PA

Cabela's may move to Cranberry

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Business Times are both reporting that Cabela's, the outdoor sports giant, could target Cranberry as a possible expansion site. The location could be the future Cranberry Town Center.

"This would be a good market for Cabela's," agreed David Glickman, vice president of the retail group of Grubb & Ellis Co., a commercial real estate firm in Pittsburgh.

Although a Western Pennsylvania site would be a departure from Cabela's initial blueprint for expansion that once envisioned stores up to 300 miles apart, competitive forces could be driving the company to consider expanding in this area, closer to its Wheeling store, said Glickman. He noted that Bass Pro Shops is planning to open a major store as part of the Victory Centre complex in South Strabane in Washington County.

"Bass Pro Shops could be a factor," Glickman said. "A lot of people from this area have been going south to Wheeling, but now we have this new store proposed for Washington."

In 2004 Cabela's opened a 175,000 square foot store in Wheeling, WV.

Cranberry approves Westinghouse

Not that there was much question, but Cranberry Township has officially approved Westinghouse's proposal for its complex in the Cranberry Woods office park. With the construction set to begin before year's end, the area now braces for change.

The most immediate change is the planned widening of Route 228 between Route 19 and Route 8, a stretch of about eight miles of road that has become prone to rush-hour jams as developments and shopping malls sprang up. Interstate 79 exits will be reworked.