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Former Rostraver Kmart under redevelopment

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ROSTRAVER – A shuttered Kmart in Rostraver Township is being redeveloped into smaller storefronts at a time when the new owner couldn’t find a tenant for a big box-style retail outlet.

BV Plaza of Pittsburgh apparently has new tenants who prefer a “bricks and mortar” location with rear access to loading docks, township records show.

Demolition is underway on about half of the building that opened in the 1960s as a W.T. Grant department store. Sears announced in June its Rostraver location was among 72 of its Kmart stores that were closing. The store, formerly owned by Sears Holdings Corp., closed in September.

Rostraver commissioners last week approved the redevelopment plan that is designed to reduce storm runoff by creating new grassy areas and turn the facade to face Finley Road, rather than Route 201.

The developer plans to reduce the paved area by 20 percent, township records show.

The smaller stores are a response to “online retailers taking a larger share of consumer sales,” the records show.

The strip mall has been renamed Rostraver Plaza, and the redevelopment there is expected to be completed before the end of summer. Several other smaller tenants in the plaza, including Aldi supermarket and Keystone Bakery, will remain.

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