McCandless Pointe development coming to Perry Highway

A new, mixed-use development will replace a century-old building located at 9101 Perry Highway in McCandless, with the developer hoping to reinvigorate the space.

The existing structure will be demolished and redeveloped into McCandless Pointe, a small local retail and services plaza featuring anything from office space, to shops, or to take-out only restaurants, said Ron Sofranko, developer and owner of RPS Hospitality Group, LLC.

The one-story, approximately 6,000-square-foot building will house three to four tenants. Demolition of the current building was set to take place over the next week or two, he said.

The older building is in need of much work, especially after sitting vacant during the pandemic, the latter of which made it challenging to lease, Sofranko said.

McCandless Pointe will have a more modern design, with more greenery and vegetation as opposed to the “sea of asphalt,” thus, decreasing its impervious surface area, according to Michael Len, of Sheesley and Associates, LLC, an engineer for the project.

The property will be landscaped to provide a buffer between the building and adjacent property owners, said RJ Susko during a presentation at a recent town council meeting. Susko is the township’s planning and development administrator.

Sofranko, an established restaurant developer in the Pittsburgh area who has owned the building since 2000, said it has been around since the 1920s, home to Meldon’s Dance and Dine, which was there for about 30 years.

Norma and Arthur Baldini, and Arthur’s brother Dom, bought and opened Baldini’s restaurant in 1964, another popular restaurant and dancing venue, said daughter Lori, who lived with her five siblings in the apartment upstairs. They all helped out with the business.

“It was a real family affair,” Lori said.

After a successful venture as Baldini’s, the owners sold the building in 1985, where it later became Dave and Duffy’s for about 12 years. Another owner bought it before being shut down for illegal gambling there, said Sofranko, who then purchased the building.

He opened Magoo’s, a restaurant and bar, featuring popular musicians and bands. The hot spot was packed every weekend, with dancing five nights a week, for approximately 10 years, he said.

After Magoo’s, the restaurant was reopened a few times since then, most recently as Bistro 19.

North American Dental Group was set to purchase the property in 2020, but the pandemic hit, and the deal just didn’t go through, he said.

Sofranko, who lives in Cranberry opened his first venture, Red River Barbecue, in the 1990s, which soon became a successful chain before he sold it. He partnered on the first Walnut Grill Restaurant and now sits on its Board of Directors. He is an owner and partner in Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale. And he holds ownership in Legacy Lanes/Crafthouse Stage and Grill; House of 1000 Beers, and most recently, The Vault, according to sofranko.advisors.com.

McCandless Pointe has gotten lots of interest already from prospective tenants, including the walk-up and order food service venue, he said. Verizon has also inquired about it.

“The corner is a fantastic site. The brand-new building will be great,” he said.

The development will have sidewalks along the full length of the Mohican Avenue frontage and Perry Highway frontage and the majority of the Perryvista Avenue frontage, according to the presentation by Len to town council last month.

It will keep the same access onto Perry Highway, and a traffic study has been completed.

An underground stormwater chamber system will be installed.

Norma Baldini, who lives in Marshall Township, has good memories of the building, but looks forward to the new development.

“I’m anxious to see what they’re going to put there,” she said.