The long-delayed Bellefonte Waterfront Project may finally be coming to fruition soon.
Co-developer Tom Songer told Bellefonte Borough Council on Monday that his goal is to bid the project in January and start construction in the spring.
Plans approved by council in June include one building with a hotel and restaurant and another with a parking garage and residential condos. The project was originally conceived as three buildings but condensed to two after value engineering due to high costs.
The project on the vacant former site of the Bush Hotel across from Talleyrand Park has been beset be delays since it was first proposed in 2018 by Songer and hotel partner Mark Morath. They originally planned to start construction in 2019, the year they finalized acquisition of the property from the Bellefonte Area Industrial Development Authority. That became 2020, then COVID hit followed by a surge in construction costs, and years have passed with hopes for a start that never materialized.
Songer said on Monday the biggest challenge has been securing financing for the parking garage, but believes he is close to solving the issue.
“Material prices have increased 20, 30%. It’s been more difficult, but we think we have a plan to get it financed,” Songer said. “… I would say it’s looking very promising. And our goal, and I said this this morning when we were meeting with our financial institution, our goal still is start this spring. I can’t go out to bids for the parking garage until I have the financing in place, but I think all I can say is right now we have the best financial plan we’ve had. And I think we can do it.”
One building at the corner of High and Dunlop streets will be a national brand boutique hotel with 93 guest rooms. The 75-feet-tall, six-story building will have a first-floor, farm-to-table restaurant with seating for about 100, as well as covered outdoor seating, and will offer a “rooftop experience.”
The second building will have 268 parking spaces on three levels, and Songer previously said he expects it will offer both license place scanning technology and a ticket option for payment.
Construction on the hotel and parking garage will occur at the same time, with projected completion in July 2027. Once the parking garage is completed, construction of the condos on top of it will begin.
The developers will begin publicly marketing the condos when construction of the parking garage starts, Songer said.
Mayor Buddy Johnson said he is asked by residents daily when the waterfront project would begin.
“We haven’t been sitting around doing nothing,” Songer said. “We’ve actually improved the project a great deal. But it’s taken quite a while to pull this all together. But we’re very hopeful and I’m doing my best to get this thing launched [in 2026].
“It’s time, and material prices have stabilized. And we think we think now that interest rates are coming down [that] is helping also with the project,” Songer said. “It’s a big undertaking but we think when it’s completed it’s definitely going to be an asset to the greater community.”
The property will also have 90 surface parking spaces, along with a brick walkway connecting the hotel and garage/condo building and a promenade between the buildings and Spring Creek. The brick-paved promenade, Songer said, will serve as a public gathering and walking space and will adjoin the outdoor seating for the restaurant.
A condition of the land development plan approval is a legal agreement for the borough to vacate Dunlop Street.
After discussion with the borough’s staff and solicitor, Songer said the easiest path forward would be for the borough to vacate the street to the adjoining property owners, which includes Bellefonte Waterfront Associates and three neighboring businesses. The three other property owners would then grant an easement to Bellefonte Waterfront Associates which would be responsible for constructing it as a through-street and maintaining it in perpetuity.
Rich Fornicola, who owns one of the properties, said that he is not opposed to the agreement, but that he and the other property owners just received the proposal last week and were still reviewing it.
