There have been signs heralding the arrival of the McCandless Crossing retail and office development on McKnight Road for more than a decade.

Duncan Avenue was extended 1,000 feet from Babcock Boulevard to McKnight Road in 2004. Planning for the $3.9 million extension started in the mid-1990s.

About a year ago, trees were felled and grading began on the 81-acre site on the west side of McKnight between Perrymont and Cumberland roads in McCandless.

Rather than a strip of shops or big-box stores, McCandless Crossing is about to turn the previously tree-lined strip of McKnight Road into what the developer calls the new town center of McCandless.

"Residents will be very excited with the quality of the project," said Bob McGurk, project manager for AdVenture Development LLC, the North Carolina development company that owns 130 acres. "This is a high-end corridor."

A tour of the west side of the site on a recent day at the end of May provided a rough idea of what was to come; but as of yet, the project is still in its infancy.

The first businesses to occupy retail space in McCandless Crossing will be a Lowe's home improvement store, under construction on the northwest quadrant of McKnight and Duncan, and a Fidelity Bank branch, which will soon be built on the east side of the intersection, Mr. McGurk said.

Both are scheduled to open in time for 2010's holiday shopping season.

The most recent business to come on board is LA Fitness, he said, which plans to build a 45,000-square-foot facility in the southwestern portion of the development. It is set to open by the end of the year.

Construction of a 60,000-square-foot office building will begin this summer, as will construction on what is expected to be a "suite" hotel. Both are slated to open next spring. Several other buildings will be situated in the quadrant adjacent to Lowe's.

According to Kevin Dougherty, president and founder of AdVenture Development, the project has been in the works since 1992.

"It has been a long journey with many evolutions to our plan," he said, giving credit to McCandless officials and municipal staff. "We are excited to work in such a wonderful community as the Town of McCandless," Mr. Dougherty said.

Mr. McGurk echoed that sentiment, adding that the project has improved the infrastructure by replacing water and sewer lines and storm sewers; six retention ponds and one dam were created to handle any flooding from a tributary of Little Pine Creek, he said.

"We replaced the Carson Middle School sewer line, which is now a part of the McCandless Township Sanitary Authority," he said.

AdVenture has been working with the North Alleghney School District to landscape the slope between the school and the development, he said.

"The [town] took an unusually active role in planning this," Mr. McGurk said. He pointed to the cedar-colored brick being laid as the foundation of Lowe's.

He also said town council specified that there would be no curb cuts on McKnight Road other than the existing intersection. There will, however, be a second entrance on Cumberland Road.

As per an agreement with Vincentian Home, the area between the home and the hotel on the south end of the parcel will be landscaped with pine trees and mulch.

The 16-inch water main was extended on Duncan, under McKnight, to run past the Lowe's driveway. An 8-inch water main will continue to the end of the site, tie into nearby Demmler Drive and create a loop system, which will provide more water pressure and security in the event of a water main break.

Mr. McGurk acknowledged that the project moved 600,000 cubic yards of earth, but he said approximately 50 acres of the 80-acre site have been left in their natural state. And all those chopped up trees are serving a purpose as deep fill under the roadway and for erosion control, he said.

Phase Two will be built on 50 acres on the east side of McKnight Road and will include the Town Center project, which may contain a grocery store, a multiscreen theater, a national bookstore, a hotel, other retail shops, office and medical office space, and "a central, walkable, livable community," Mr. Dougherty said.

Cumberland Road, Babcock Boulevard and Duncan Avenue also will be improved during the second phase, he said.

The last parcel of land to be brought into the fold includes the forested corner of McKnight and Cumberland and extends down to the former La Roche College campus where the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Allegheny County SWAT and all local police and fire departments have been using the old buildings for training and exercises.

"We're currently getting bids to tear down the buildings," said Mr. McGurk said, explaining that the area was slated for 60 townhome units and 40 traditional neighborhood homes in addition to a movie theater, supermarket and 200,000 square feet of other small retail shops.

First Published: June 17, 2010, 4:00 a.m.