Dick's Relocating to Former Cranberry Campground

Empty for years, a is targeted for new life as the home of Cranberry Crossroads, a shopping center with an 80,000-square-foot Dick’s Sporting Goods store as its centerpiece.

Cranberry Township’s Planning Advisory Commission lacked a quorum Monday –- making it unable to act on business presented to it. Commission members listened, however, as Phil Bishop, vice president of ECHO, a Pittsburgh-based real estate and retail development company, introduced conceptual plans for the shopping center.

Along with a two-story, freestanding Dick’s Sporting Goods store, the center would include a convenience store with a fueling station and a car wash, plus a separate 30,000-square-foot combination of retail stores that could include a restaurant with a drive-thru.

Bishop said he’s looking for tenants to occupy the spaces.

‘”We’re talking to anyone and everyone right now,” he said.

ECHO’s partner in the project, Pittsburgh's Elmhurst Group -- which specializes in developing office buildings – also has plans for 90,000 square feet of office space on the 24-acre parcel.

The office building would take up six acres of property. ECHO will develop the remaining 18 acres.

Cranberry already is home to a Dick’s Sporting Goods store located along Route 19 in the Cranberry Square Shopping Plaza, which also houses a and a   That Dick's store apparently will move from Cranberry Square; Bishop said he was unaware of plans for that space when the sporting goods store moves to Route 228.

A spokewoman from Dick's said the company does not comment on new stores until it's closer to the opening date.

Bishop said he hopes to start obtaining township permits within the month.

Plans for the shopping center also call for new turning lanes on Route 228 and a new traffic signal at the intersection of Franklin Road with Mars Road. Mars Road, which runs behind the Cranberry Commons Shopping Center and connects to Route 228, would have an entrance to the new plaza.

McElroy Road, which connects Route 228 to the property, also would be relocated and act as an entrance to the shopping plaza.

Located next to the Cranberry Commons -- which includes , and T.J. Maxx -- Cranberry Crossroads would connect to its neighboring plaza, Bishop said.

He said his company has been working with PennDOT, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Butler County Conservation District on the project.

The area falls under Cranberry’s streetscape ordinance, which requires extensive landscaping from new businesses. Bishop said sidewalks, benches, a fountain and gazebos all are part of the plan.

“We’re doing some things that are above and beyond what the ordinance requires,” he said.

He added that the two-story freestanding building is a new concept for Dick’s.

“This may be the only one like it or one of very few in the country,” he said. “It’s going to be a highlight architectural feature for them as well."

If all goes according to plan, he said, construction could start on the grounds by August.