The building design for a Walmart along Route 202 in Hillsborough has been approved since November 2016 although developers still haven’t broken ground on the site.

Hillsborough Planning Director Robyn Payson said as far as she knows the developer — Saxon Partners LLC — only needs a building permit from the town in order to start work on the site.

“We just don’t have a groundbreaking date yet,” Payson said in an interview last week. “They kind of disappeared.”

Payson said she is hopeful that the site, which is slated to include 280,000-square feet of retail space and about 80 senior living residential units, will still be built despite the recent lull in activity.

Michael Black, who represents Saxon Partners, didn’t return a message left by the Ledger-Transcript last week.

Payson said it’s not the first time a Walmart has been proposed in town. She said there was a proposal to bring the big-box store in a while back although those plans never came to fruition. Payson said Tractor Supply Company went into space where that initial proposal was slated to be built.

To get a second chance at bringing Walmart to the town, Payson said, is an exciting prospect.

Although the town has a second chance, the process has taken time. Payson said the project has been in the works since 2008 and has since gone through many iterations.

She said the building plan that the town has received “will fit in well with the other businesses on Route 202,” according to Planning Board meeting minutes from November 2016 when the group approved a site plan amendment.

“I like the understated color and the more modern design and think it will fit in well in the area,” Payson said, according to the minutes. “I have seen the previous design that was approved by the planning board the first time Walmart came to town and feel that the building design being presented at the meeting of November 17 works well for Hillsborough in 2016.”

One member of the board said that he would like to see Walmart incorporate New England design features, using clapboards or granite as examples.

There were a few public comments inquiring about whether or not the signs would be lit, and what the landscaping would look like around the building.

In the end, all but one planning board member voted to approve the plan. The public hearing took under an hour.

Since that time, the developer has sought out some state permitting, but the town has largely been kept out of the process.

Payson said the stall may be attributed to national news that has been circulating regarding competition between Walmart and Amazon. Walmart has made a splash in the e-commerce market, while Amazon made its debut in the more traditional brick-and-mortar sphere when it bought Whole Foods last summer. The two giants are now competing in similar markets, leaving people to wonder if both will be able to survive.

Payson said the proposed Walmart in Hillsborough includes a drive-through location. Payson said she’s been told that employees load up the items directly into the car.

She said that feature would have been helpful when her kids were young.

“We’re hopeful, everyone’s really hopeful,” Payson said about the Walmart being built. ” … It’s coming along, everyone’s just holding their breath.”

In an interview with the Virginia “Ginks” Leiby, executive director at the Greater Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce, said if the Walmart goes in, it would likely draw other businesses into the area, too. She said Hillsborough has the potential to grow given its location off of Route 9 and location between Keene and Concord.

Abby Kessler can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234 or akessler@ledgertranscript.com.