‘Superstore’ Wants to Demolish and Rebuild Massive Rt. 9 Property
A new plan has been proposed to the Town of Wappinger to take a huge, empty business and transform it into a state-of-the-art superstore.
The Plant Depot on Route 9 and Smithtown Road in Fishkill closed down in 2015 after 22 years in business. At the time, owner Lou Paggiotta and his wife Lorraine decided it was time to retire. Since then, the building has sat vacant, leaving many wondering what would ever come of this huge piece of real estate.
Earlier this year a plan was proposed to turn the property into a U-Haul Moving and Storage business. Those plans have appeared to fall through and now a new, even bigger business is making plans to purchase the property and completely transform the stretch of Route 9.
Paperwork has been submitted to the Town of Wappinger to construct a "CarMax Auto Superstore" at the vacant site. The plan calls for the existing buildings to be completely demolished and replaced with a large car lot, sales building, service building, private car wash and other new structures.
Developers are also proposing a six-foot masonry wall around the property secured by "embassy-style" gates to protect CarMax's inventory. If approved, there would be access to the business from both Smithtown Road and Route 9, where customers would have the ability to take cars out for test drives.
CarMax was conceived in 1991 by the executives behind the Circuit City electronics store chain. The business sells used vehicles and usually holds an inventory of around 350 cars at any given time. The company is listed by Fortune magazine as being one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," landing at the number 36 spot on the list in 2021.
Currently, there are 225 CarMax locations across the country. The nearest superstores are located in Albany and Waterbury, CT. John Thatcher, the development manager for the superstore project says that CarMax "looks forward to partnering with the Town of Wappinger and its residents in constructing and operating a successful new store."
Which Store Should Return to Route 9?