The much-touted economic benefits of the Settlers Cabin interchange on Routes 22/30 in Robinson are already coming to pass only eight months after the Parkway West exit opened.

A "lifestyle" retail center called Settler's Ridge is planned for a 77-acre site on a plateau above Campbell's Run Road.

Details are sketchy -- plans have not yet been submitted for township review -- but real estate brochures show a cinema, a large book and music store, a grocery store, sporting goods, specialty stores, a health club and restaurants, all laid out in a village-style grid with a network of landscaped, pedestrian-friendly streets linking the attractions and parking around the perimeter.

The site, owned by Robinson Park Associates, of Moon, is being developed by Faison Enterprises Inc., of Charlotte, N.C.

"It's a site I wanted to buy 20 years ago," Faison's Howard Biel said. "All it needed was to be stripped and to get an interchange."

Mr. Biel said the development will mix elements of South Side Works, The Waterfront and the Shadyside shopping district, finding a niche alongside The Mall at Robinson, Robinson Town Centre, The Pointe at North Fayette and other smaller plazas in the area.

"Ours is going to have a different flavor," he said.

Mr. Biel said Faison is busy signing up tenants -- "doing that typical matriculation dance that we do" -- but will not announce who they are until a certain threshold is reached. He said the development is "close to that threshold," and that people may be surprised at what is coming.

"We are looking to attract the kind of tenancies that are remarkable in Robinson," he said.

Robinson planning director Rick Urbano said he is excited by what he's seen so far, though what he's seen is pretty sketchy.

"It's outstanding," he said. "It's a great location right off the Parkway. It's going to be one of a kind."

He said the plans are being done by GAI Consultants, Inc., of Homestead, which has done considerable work in Robinson before. He said the township is expecting to have plans submitted this month, followed by three to four months of review.

"Robinson is going to be one of the smaller communities out there with both a regional mall and a lifestyle center," he said.

Faison applied for a conditional use permit from the township to do a commercial development in a commercial/office/multifamily district, and received it June 12.

Mr. Biel said he'd been waiting for years for the chance to develop this particular site, with highways access being the biggest hurdle. The new interchange, which was 20 years in the making, was the key to making Settlers Ridge possible, he said.

Robinson Park Associates donated land for the interchange, which was also subsidized heavily by Bayer Corp., which has its North American headquarters off that interchange as well.