Monroeville officials agree to purchase convention center

Several details need to be finalized, but Monroeville officials have agreed to buy the Monroeville Convention Center from the development group that originally planned to turn it into a Hobby Lobby.

Municipal council members adopted a resolution in August to execute a sales agreement and buy the 100,000 square-foot convention center, which belonged to L&M Associates, an ownership group represented by Pittsburgh company Oxford Development.

Monroeville Mayor Nick Gresock said the sale price for the building located adjacent to Monroeville Mall was $5.375 million. Oxford Development officials could not be reached for comment.

The building’s future was up in the air this year, when Oxford officials announced they would terminate the convention center’s lease this past May to make way for craft store Hobby Lobby to move in.

That led to several months of talks between Oxford and Monroeville officials, who were concerned about losing the economic impact the convention center has on the municipality. Officials from Visit Monroeville, which markets the convention center along with other venues in Monroeville, estimated the center brings an estimated $100 million into the community annually.

“At this point, the plan is for it to operate and be managed by the same team,” Gresock said. “The municipality is just going to take Oxford’s place. We’re working on the arrangement between us and Visit Monroeville.”

Gresock said the municipality used its fund balance to purchase the convention center.

“Will it eventually get wrapped up into a bond? That’s a possibility,” he said. “We have a healthy fund balance right now and both council and our administration felt it was an important investment in the community.”

In July, officials from the nondenominational Grace Life Church announced they’d signed a contract to buy the former DoubleTree Hotel next door to the convention center.

The hotel closed abruptly in late February with almost no notice.

Grace Life officials have not disclosed their plans for the building. Their East Campus, on Route 22 in Monroeville, is listed for sale at $3.7 million. The roughly 5-acre property also includes the geodesic dome building that has been home to both a doughnut shop and a barbecue restaurant in recent years.