Wal-Mart abandons plans for new store in McCandless

Wal-Mart's plans to build a supercenter off McKnight Road in McCandless are dead, according to company officials.

A spokesman for the retail giant confirmed today that it is ending its effort to construct a 155,000-square-foot store on 23 acres along Blazier Drive.

“After much deliberation, we have decided not to pursue development of a new store in McCandless,” said Phillip Keene, Wal-Mart's director of corporate communications. “We greatly appreciate the support we received from the community, and many others, as we worked through the legal and development process over the last several years.

“We (intend to) ... invest in improving our existing stores throughout the state and region,” Keene said.Questions about the project's future arose recently after Giant Eagle Corp. purchased a portion of the site where Wal-Mart planned to build.

The $1.3 million acquisition of about seven acres by Giant Eagle reduced the amount of property on which Wal-Mart could conceivably build to about 16 acres, according to McCandless officials.

Building on the remaining land — a horseshoe shaped parcel around one of the properties Giant Eagle bought — could still be possible if the footprint of the store were altered dramatically “but it would be very, very difficult,” said Bruce Betty, the town's planning director.

Keene said while Wal-Mart has constructed stores of varying size around the country — including a number of “neighborhood markets” that are between 30,000 and 40,000 square feet and focus on groceries — there are no plans for such a store on the Blazier Drive site.

Giant Eagle has not yet decided how it plans to use the land it bought.

“As a company founded and with headquarters in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Giant Eagle continually evaluates opportunities to enhance our community,” said Dan Donovan, the company's director of marketing. “With this goal in mind, we were happy to be able to purchase (this property).”

He said Giant Eagle will investigate “how we can best use the property to make a positive contribution to McCandless.”

One of the Giant Eagle properties Giant is about 2.8 acres; the other about 4.4 acres, according to the Allegheny County Real Estate website. The two parcels, however, are not connected.

Giant Eagle operates a supermarket along McKnight Road, less than one mile from Blazier Drive.

And while the properties along Blazier are zoned for commercial development, construction of a gasoline station — among the most popular suggestions posted on social media for how the site should be used — is prohibited, according to Betty.

Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-772-6368 or tlarussa@tribweb.com.