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Greene developments proceeding

By Brandon Szuminsky 5 min read

WAYNESBURG – With a foundation already laid and walls going up for a Bob Evans Restaurant, dirt about to be moved at the Wal-Mart site and Walgreens pharmacy investigating the possibility of a store in town, Waynesburg is suddenly a hot site for national companies. During their Wednesday agenda meeting, Greene County commissioners announced that they received a letter from McHolme/Waynesburg LLC, the developer of the proposed retail complex, indicating that equipment is being mobilized to the site of the long-awaited Wal-Mart for gas line and utility relocation.

Commission Chairwoman Pam Snyder said the relocation of three major gas lines is a “huge step” and the first of many towards the completion of the super center’s construction.

“This is a long time coming,” Snyder said. “We know that everyone in Greene County has been anxious to see Wal-Mart come here, and we are very pleased to see the project come to fruition. The hard work put forth by everyone involved in this development project is now starting to pay off.”

The new super center would be built on Murtha Drive as one of two anchor tenants of “Waynesburg Crossings.” The property will intersect Route 21 near the county airport and will connect with Rolling Meadows Road.

Robbie Matesic, Greene County director of economic development, said Wal-Mart, along with the Route 21 development and Murtha Drive project, should be completed by fall 2007.

The beginning of site preparation for Wal-Mart should silence lingering doubts about the realization of the project, Matesic said.

“This is the schedule we’ve been anticipating for a while,” she said. “Many, many times I’ve heard that there is a sense of they’ll “believe it when they see it,” so this is a very good day. This is the beginning; it’s going to spur a lot more development.”

This week marks the beginning of construction of the entire 350,000-square-foot retail development. Construction of the actual 155,000-square-foot Wal-Mart building will not begin until March 2007, after site preparation is complete, Matesic said.

Another anchor store, which will be located near Rolling Meadows Road, will be roughly 100,000 square feet and an estimated 15 other stores will round out the development.

“People have been waiting for a long time for this development to come to fruition,” Matesic said. “It’s exciting. We’re starting to see the bricks and mortar part of all those efforts. The Waynesburg Crossings retail development will generate significantly more traffic in the Waynesburg area and that’s going to attract a lot of interest from many others interested in development,” Matesic said.

One of which is Bob Evans Restaurant.

Wal-Mart was not among the official reasons for the restaurant coming to Waynesburg, but, according to Matesic, Bob Evans was “very interested” in the timetable and commitment of retailer.

So, while ahead of the retail development, construction of a Bob Evans Restaurant is progressing with much less fanfare on Route 21 east of Interstate 79 near the Comfort Inn.

The restaurant is expected to open at the beginning of November, according to Jodi Thatcher, internal communications manager for Bob Evans. However, weather and construction setbacks, like those possible with any project, could delay the opening, she said.

The estimated 5,400-square-foot restaurant will have 155 seats and employ 80 to 90, Thatcher said.

“Our restaurant in Washington did extremely well,” Thatcher said. “We thought Waynesburg would be good fit and being right off a major highway it would be good for traffic.”

Walgreens also took a step toward constructing a Waynesburg store this week, when the Franklin Township Planning Commission granted conditional site plan approval on Monday to developer Anchor Properties. Anchor Properties, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is investigating the possibility of a store in the area for its client, Walgreens.

Nate Stark, project manager for Anchor, said the developer is working to obtain all the various permits and approvals needed to redevelop the site and then will move to actually purchase the property and then coordinate construction.

With conditional approval from the township, Anchor must now satisfy the county, the state Department of Transportation and the township’s engineer, Stark said.

“After we have that in place, we would purchase the site and begin construction,” he said.

According to Stark, the proposed store would be a “typical Walgreens” at 14,820 square feet and sit on 2.5 acres currently occupied by Frenci’s Pizza Buffet, Walt’s Auto Clinic and the former Amelia’s Restaurant.

Because the site is in a flood plain, Stark said an engineer is investigating how to build the building so it would not be affected by flooding, which would most likely mean the foundation be raised a foot or more from the current level. “It is a concern,” Stark said. “It’s something we’re looking into.”

While Anchor is unable to purchase the land until it receives final approval, it has contracts to do so. According to Stark, Anchor already has agreements to buy the land from John Howard and Mark A. Fox for an undisclosed amount. Fox, the owner of Walt’s Auto Clinic, said he was told to expect the land to be sold by the middle of October. He is currently looking at the possibilities of where to relocate.

The Walgreens is expected to be built by this time next year, Stark said.

Meanwhile, the official word from Walgreens is noncommittal.

Carol Hively, corporate spokeswoman for Walgreens, said the company’s interest in Waynesburg has not been finalized. She did say, however, that a developer is conducting initial “legwork” to determine the feasibility of the project.

“Nothing is happening soon in Waynesburg,” Hively said.

Even without official confirmation, Stark is confident in Walgreens’ intentions.

“Walgreens has reviewed the site,” he said. “They said that they would like to be there.”

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