Developer seeks to expand former Penn-Irwin motel site
The developer that purchased the former Penn-Irwin motel property along Route 30 in North Huntingdon wants to expand the parcel by buying a triangular slice of adjacent land owned by a McDonald’s restaurant franchisee.
Colony of Irwin LLC, a North Huntingdon development firm with extensive commercial holdings in the township, wants to add a piece of the undeveloped McDonald’s restaurant property to the parcel Colony bought for $800,000 from Gary and Deborah Salada in April. McDonald’s USA LLC of O’Hara bought the 2.4-acre property in 2007 for $525,000, according to documents filed with the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds office.
Colony of Irwin has an agreement to buy part of that parcel, said Andrew Blenko, township planning director. The North Huntingdon planning commission Monday received the drawing of the site and has 90 days to review and make a recommendation on moving the property line, Blenko said.
Donald Tarosky Sr., a partner in Colony Holding Co., declined to comment last week on the development plans for the site of the former motel, which closed in March.
A spokesman for M&J Management Corp., which bought the North Huntingdon site under the name of McDonald’s USA, could not be reached for comment.
M&J Management owns 18 McDonald’s restaurants. Its late founder, Michael James Delligatti, created the popular Big Mac hamburger in 1967 at his McDonald’s restaurant in Uniontown.
Colony of Irwin has not told the township of any plans to develop the property, Blenko said. A part of the motel property lies within Irwin Borough.
Another developer, United Growth Capital Management LLC of San Rafael, Calif., had sought township approval in February 2016 for plans to construct a 6,800-square-foot building to house an auto parts store and a 9,500-square-foot mixed-use tenant retail building on the motel property.
The planning commission recommended to the township commissioners that the site plan be rejected because of deficiencies. Blenko said at the time the developer wanted the township to reject the plan.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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