Strabane Square, Trinity Point continue to pay off for South Strabane
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
A section of Strabane Square shopping center
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Casey Smearman of Bethel Park puts items into his car after shopping at Target in Strabane Square Wednesday.
John Stickle grasped South Strabane’s reins in 1990, when farms dominated the landscape. He was the municipal manager for 26 years before retiring.
The township, in the early ’90s, hadn’t begun transforming into a smaller-scale Cranberry – a retail/restaurant mecca in Butler County, 60 miles away on another end of Route 19. Oh, South Strabane had retail along the corridor a quarter-century back. Northgate Plaza operated in the flats near Cameron Road, and Washington Mall, while on a decline that continues today, was still percolating a mile and a half to the south.
All of that would change before the millennium when Strabane Square and Trinity Point, large shopping centers essentially across Washington Road from each other, opened within a year.
Although development of these commercial enterprises exacted a formidable toll of blood, sweat and tears from the parties involved, they eventually went up, Strabane Square launching in 1998, Trinity Point in ’99. Each center has been well received from the start, sparking other shopping and dining initiatives in the immediate vicinity – on the edge of the city of Washington – and north to Racetrack Road.
And sparking warm and fuzzy memories for Stickle that endure.
“Building them was a big boon to the township as far as commercial development,” he said, his enthusiasm palpable through the phone. “The real estate tax, mercantile tax and local services tax were big supports for the township budget, and the centers gave residents nice places to shop and amenities like restaurants.
“Having them near the interstates (70 and 79) was attractive to developers, also. That brought in shoppers from all around the 70 and 79 corridors.”
Sounding almost like a Realtor, Stickle extolled another virtue of the location, location, location of these retail complexes. They were constructed on vast stretches of virtually open land.
“These locations were not really near residential communities,” he said. “And as I recall, the township and the developers supported second entrances (other than Route 19) to alleviate traffic – Beau Street for Trinity Point, Berry Road to Strabane Square.
“These shopping areas were not very controversial. They were a good fit.”
A good fit even though – combined – the two complexes take up more than 1 million square feet of commercial space.
Strabane Square, on the western side of Washington Road, was developed and owned by Gustine Co., which no longer exists. The current ownership situation is unclear.
ECHO Realty of Fox Chapel owns the shopping center, according to property listings on the Washington County website. But Jim Storer, vice president of Mosites Development Co., which owns Trinity Point, said “entities” of Mosites have a 50 percent share of Strabane Square. (ECHO did not respond to several telephone calls seeking comment.)
Lowe’s, Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Giant Eagle are among Strabane Square’s anchors. Trinity Point is home to Walmart, Sam’s Club, McDonald’s and more. (Walmart relocated there from Oak Spring Center, also in the township.)
Storer, who was involved with the launch of Trinity Point, said that project was built in phases “over a number of years.” He said there are always issues with commercial development, “but we were persistent and kept it moving.” Two decades later, he is gratified by the result.
“We obviously saw a need, that Washington lacked a lot of retail that could locate there, especially with the transportation systems of 70 and 79 and the Route 19 corridor.
“That was a good read on our part. Both projects have been very successful.”
Diana Irey Vaughan, a Washington County commissioner since early 1996, recalled Mosites initially requested tax-increment financing – public financing – for Trinity Point.
“We declined,” she said. “We did not believe that was necessary, and we were correct.”
The early triumphs of these commercial developments led to the 2005 announcement of another project, on a 104-acre tract adjacent to Strabane Square. The Foundry, however, became an abysmal failure.
As of December 2007, the developer, Indianapolis-based Premier Properties USA, had only three retailers and Max & Erma’s restaurant operating on the site. Within six months, Premier would file for bankruptcy and the three stores would be closed after land subsidence caused cracks in the floors and walls. One of those stores, J.C. Penney, moved back to Washington Mall.
Five years, one major land remediation and a new owner later, TSG Properties of St. Louis began to develop the site into the Old Mill shopping center. Other phases of the project have not begun, but the first one has been a hit.
Irey Vaughan credits Trinity Point and Strabane Square with helping to kick-start other commercial activity a few miles to the north. She pointed to the development of Tanger Outlets and the Park Place at the Meadow Lands project, a mix of restaurants, retail, residential and offices, and to how gaming transformed The Meadows from a harness-racing venue to The Meadows Racetrack & Casino a decade ago. Revenue from the casino goes to the Local Share Account, which is used for community projects countywide.
“Success breeds success, and this is a prime example,” the commissioner said. “These projects have provided opportunities, from shopping to providing retail jobs. They’re helping to keep tax dollars in Washington County.”
Twenty years later, Roy Ruzika and Darlene Prendergast are still spending money at Strabane Square and Trinity Point – and don’t mind doing so. These have been convenient shopping destinations all along.
“We live only a few minutes away,” Ruzika, a Washington resident, said on a frosty afternoon at Strabane Square. “My wife and I are here pretty much every day for one thing or another. Both of these (shopping centers) have done a lot for the area.”
Prendergast lives in Hundred, W.Va., but works at Eaton-Cooper-Crouse-Hinds, an outlet box-making company in Washington. Pushing a full cart of groceries to her car at Strabane Square, she said: “I love to shop here. There are good bargains. Both of these places have helped the area.”
John Stickle would have loved to have heard these shoppers personally. He was at the forefront of the development of these projects, processes that weren’t always easy. But the end result was satisfying and gratifying, and provided an impetus for further growth.
“This was definitely a game-changer for the township,” he said.