Monroeville is losing its ExpoMart, but will gain new exhibition, meeting and convention center at a nearby site, according to plans disclosed today by the facility's owner.
Oxford Development Co. plans to convert the empty Wickes furniture store in Monroeville into a new $16.2 million, 96,000-square-foot complex that would replace the ExporMart in the overall Monroeville Mall development.
In turn, the ExpoMart is to be converted into a full office building, said Oxford President David Matter, at a meeting of the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County.
"The new exhibition facility will house the Greater Monroeville Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as a kiosk for the Monroeville Chamber of Commerce," Matter said.
The redevelopment authority board of directors approved Oxford's request to have the panel submit two applications to the state for grants totaling $4.28 million to support the project.
Matter said the company is seeking an additional $1 million from the state. The company did not seek the authority's help on that request.
Oxford previously talked about plans to redevelop the ExpoMart-Radisson Hotel complex in Monroeville, starting with a downsizing of the hotel and the addition of two restaurants.
It plans to demolish the southern tower of the Radisson Hotel, reduce the number of rooms from 332 to 186 and renovate the remainder of the hotel as part of an overall reconfiguration and improvement of its properties there.
The ExpoMart has offered 106,000 square feet of floor space plus eight large conference rooms and free parking for 1,600 vehicles.
According to its Internet site, it has hosted more than 125 conventions a year. In the past, it also had 18 business and higher education tenants.
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