Shoppes at South Abington project faces challenges with retaining wall, lawsuits

A compromised retaining wall appears to be holding up a development that would bring multiple businesses to a stretch of Northern Boulevard.

South Abington Twp. officials appear to have not issued permits for the 37,399-square-foot Shoppes at South Abington. Multiple attempts to clarify the situation with the wall and what is holding up the project with officials and the developer have not been successful.

Resident John Hambrose asked at the October supervisors meeting about the retaining wall, and Solicitor William Jones responded that a building permit wasn’t issued for the retaining wall. Hambrose — who has since been elected as a supervisor — said Jones did not provide an explanation during the meeting about why a permit wasn’t issued.

During the same meeting, it was disclosed that the developer failed to present the township with an engineering certification for the wall, and that the township did not issue occupancy permits for the Sheetz and Wendy’s that are being built at the site.

Multiple attempts to reach Jones and township Manager JoAnn Pane for information about what permits have been issued for the project and how the retaining wall was constructed have been unsuccessful.

Supervisor Chairman Giles Stanton said progress is being made on the site, while Supervisor Donald Snyder said there has “been a lot of activity” there but didn’t elaborate on it. Efforts to reach Supervisor Mark Dougherty were unsuccessful.

Ankim Shah, CEO of Falcon Partners LLC, the plaza’s developer, appeared at several township supervisors meetings in the spring and summer to discuss the project. Officials found in June the developer did not have a traffic light maintenance agreement, which is required to accompany its application for traffic signal approval, according to meeting minutes from the June supervisors meeting. Supervisors agreed at that meeting to authorize the township manager to sign the documents when they were completed and invoices paid.

The issues with the retaining wall aren’t the only ones facing the development as lawyers for two of the businesses slated to open at the site are suing the developer.

Sheetz Inc. of Altoona and Wendy’s Properties LLC both filed a legal document called a praecipe for a writ of summons in Lackawanna County Court against 1101 Northern Boulevard LLC and Shah. The document filed by Wendy’s also names Crown CFM Holdings LLC as a defendant.

The document filed by Sheetz over the summer classifies that case as a contract dispute involving a lease agreement. The one filed by Wendy’s in October is also categorized as a contract dispute involving a breach of a construction agreement/lease. Both indicate the plaintiffs will seek monetary damages in an unspecified amount that is greater than the arbitration limits.

Lawsuits have not been filed by the businesses. The filing of a praecipe allows a plaintiff to meet a statute of limitations and puts a defendant on notice that a lawsuit has been initiated. A praecipe might also not necessarily result in a full civil complaint, if both sides instead resolve the dispute before the filing of a lawsuit.

Efforts to reach Wendy’s and Sheetz about the legal disputes and the status of their respective businesses at the plaza were unsuccessful.

The developments are the latest for the shopping plaza that has been in the works for five years. Work began on the site, which was formerly Nichols Village, in 2020. The project has since encountered multiple delays, including demolition of the former Nichols Village property stalling in 2020 after a contractor pulled out of the project, construction hitting rock requiring reengineering and contractors sidelined by restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The development will be on the northern side of the John E. Fitzgerald Memorial Bridge that carries the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike over Routes 6 and 11.

It will include multiple tenants, including the new Sheetz, which would replace the existing Sheetz nearby at 1109 Northern Blvd. A Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant opened in 2023 in the spot of the former Wendy’s restaurant at 1135 Northern Blvd.

Shah said in a recent phone conversation he and his team are working with the township and tenants to “try to get them open as soon as possible,” and are in negotiations with several tenants. He had no further comments about the litigation and the permit for the retaining wall.

Shah has given a shifting timeline for when the tenants will be in place and open. In October 2023, a Sheetz representative said the new store was scheduled to open in spring or summer 2024, but in a follow-up article in July 2024, Shah said highway occupancy work and final touches were in progress at the site and he expected an opening by Thanksgiving 2024. He said in August he expected the new Sheetz and Wendy’s to open in a few months.

Work on the development appears to have stalled. The Wendy’s and Sheetz buildings are visible from Northern Boulevard and the area between the two contains steel-beam framing for another structure. However, no construction is visible.

Hambrose said he “] wants to see the project completed and opened as soon as possible. He said after the election he would work to minimize the project’s impact on the township once he’s sworn in.

“I’m sure that that’s the same thing the township wants,” Hambrose said.