HERMITAGE, Pa. – Three new restaurants and a national retailer are among the initial tenants planned for the former Shenango Valley Mall property.

Robert Abramovich, executive vice president of Flicore LLC, a Pepper Pike, Ohio, developer of commercial space, outlined initial plans for what is now being called Hickory Fields on Monday to members of the Hermitage Planning Commission.

When the entire 42 acres of commercial property is developed at the site, investment will be north of $100 million and bring 900 new jobs to the Hermitage market, he predicted. Demolition of the existing vacant buildings on the site should be completed this spring, when horizontal – or infrastructure and site development – work should get underway, with vertical construction beginning by the end of 2025.

“Today is certainly an exciting day for the city of Hermitage and for the entire region,” said Mark Longietti, Hermitage director of business and community development. “This is a journey that has taken its course over several years.”

Eight years ago, the mall lost two anchor tenants and continued to deteriorate, City Manager Gary Hinkson recalled. The resulting $250,000 loss in tax revenue following two tax reassessments spurred city officials to come up with a plan to redevelop the property. In 2020, Hermitage adopted a city comprehensive plan that called for a “vibrant city center” and began seeking a developer to work with on the mall property.

Butterfli Holdings 011 LLC, an affiliate of Flicore, purchased the mall property in August 2022.

During the meeting, which ran nearly two hours, commission members approved preliminary and final major subdivision plans for the 42-acre commercial property to create 11 lots; a waiver related to a cul-de-sac on the site; and development plans for four of the nine lots designated for buildings.

A concept photo of the planned Hickory Fields in Hermitage.

The plan approved for one of the lots, a 12.5-acre site in the general vicinity of the former Sears store space and main mall concourse, would be for a 130,000-square-foot store with a nationally branded coffee café and include 12,000 square feet of grocery merchandise, Abramovich said. The space would be occupied by what he described as a “Minnesota-headquartered, publicly traded, national brand general merchandise retailer with nearly 2,000 locations” and nearly 400,000 employees.  

The description, along with the color scheme of the renderings presented during the meeting, suggest Target is the retailer in question.

“Once we have all of our entitlements and our permits and everything in hand, we hope to be able to make an announcement,” Abramovich said.  

During his presentation, Abramovich identified the three other tenants planned for the site – Chili’s, which plans to open a 5,200-square-foot sit-down restaurant; Longhorn Steakhouse, which will open a 5,780-square-foot sit-down restaurant; and Chick-fil-A, which will open a 5,000-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru.

Michelle Johnson, a senior strategist with SmithGroup, outlined concepts for the approximately 24 acres of community space that will be north of the commercial space as part of the town center. SmithGroup, a Pittsburgh-based design firm that developed Glass City Metro Park in Toledo, is collaborating with Flicore and the city of Hermitage on the park and community space as part of the town center.

Michelle Johnson, a senior strategist with SmithGroup, outlines concepts for the community space as part of the town center.

Concepts include creating recreational space to take advantage of the existing natural elements, as well as developing more; adding elements such as festival space and water features; and developing housing options and space for small local shops, after determining what would meet current and future needs.

“We’re seeing a lot of national chains on the southern side,” Johnson said. “Through our stakeholder involvement, we heard loud and clear that there is also a demand for more locally owned, kind of smaller boutique chains. Before we get into identifying that mixed use, we really want to do a market analysis.”

After the meeting, Hinkson said he was impressed with what he saw at the meeting. Abramovich presented plans for only four of the lots, so there is “much more to come on the mall part,” he said.

“We’re also excited about the land to the north of the mall and what Michelle presented from SmithGroup and the opportunities that can be there,” he added.

Pictured at top: Robert Abramovich, Gary Hinkson and Michelle Johnson.