Centre County business and civic leaders gathered Tuesday afternoon in Benner Township to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new hotel, one of several upcoming projects that local officials say are much needed to meet rising demand.
State College-based hotelier Hospitality Asset Management Company is developing the 98-room Tru by Hilton hotel just off of Benner Pike, next to G.M. McCrossin Inc. and across from Bellefonte Lanes.
The four-story hotel will feature “complimentary breakfast, active lobby spaces and an expanded fitness center,” according to HAMCO. Located atop the hill at the end of Leahey Drive, the hotel’s elevation will offer panoramic views of the valley.
“Imagine four stories up the view you’re going to have up and down the valley,” Edward Tubbs, CEO of HAMCO, said. “It’s going to be spectacular. We can’t wait to get started.”
HAMCO is targeting a June 2025 opening for the hotel, which is expected to employ 20 full-time and 15 part-time staff members, Tubbs said.
Joe Leahey, vice president of G.M. McCrossin, on whose property the hotel is being constructed, said new lodging is vital to continued growth of businesses in the regions. Among those is Titan Energy Park near Bellefonte, which is owned by an investment group formed by McCrossin and Shaner Capital and continues to be redeveloped as an event and convention space.
“We look forward to a great hotel,” Leahey said. “This will be a beacon for the area. I’m involved in the Titan Park and this is one of the key things that a lot of the national and international companies are looking for to start bringing events to the area, a hotel… that we could be connected to. This is really exciting that this is happening now.”
The region has a “real need” for hotels, said Centre County Commissioner Steve Dershem. He and Tubbs both cited the expanded event opportunities that will come with Penn State’s renovation of Beaver Stadium among ways visitations will continue to grow.
“This is just what it’s all about,” Dershem said. “It involves economic development, tourism, providing an opportunity for people when they’re here to visit family and friends. They have an opportunity to attend sporting events… I think as Penn State expands the opportunities at Beaver Stadium and opportunities in the sporting area we’re going to have that much more need for great space.”
Tourism and the hospitality industry have continued a strong rebound from the COVID-19 downturn, sharpening the need for more hotel rooms, said Fritz Smith, president and CEO of the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau.
In 2022, Centre County had 4.8 million visitors and a visitor economy of $840 million — a figure Smith is hopeful will soon top $1 billion. Hospitality industry staffing, meanwhile, has returned to pre-COVID levels, he said.
“The hospitality industry is growing. You can see it by the faith that they are putting into this development,” Smith said. “People don’t just come here for football games; they come here for lots of reasons. [Tourism is] one of the fastest growing industries in the county and in the state. We’re looking forward to continued growth.”
Tourism is a “key element” in a countywide economic development strategy currently in the works at the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, said President and CEO Greg Scott.
“As I think about a project like this and how it ties into economic development, it’s amazing to see and it demonstrates progress in our area,” Scott said. “That’s what we want to see. We want to see our county continue to progress on our economic prosperity and a project like this absolutely does it.”
HOTEL GROWTH
Scott noted that the Tru by Hilton will be locally developed and owned, and it’s not the only new hotel project HAMCO has planned.
HAMCO owns the Hilton Garden Inn, Super 8 and Days Inn by Wyndham in the State College area, and previously owned the former Days Inn in downtown State College for decades. The company is also working with developer Tom Songer on the long-awaited hotel that will be part of the Bellefonte Waterfront Project, about 2.5 miles down the road from the Tru by Hilton.
Tubbs told StateCollege.com that the developers are hopeful site work on the waterfront project can begin in the fall, but that it will most likely be next spring. A brand partner has been selected for the hotel, but not yet announced.
“It’s a challenging project there,” Tubbs said. “We’re trying to get the design just right so it weaves into the current fabric of the community there, so it doesn’t look like a brand new building amongst the Victorian era properties that are down there.”
HAMCO is also the developer of a hotel that will be part of a planned commercial development on the Maxwell property along Shiloh Road in College Township. Tubbs revealed on Tuesday that the hotel there will be a Home2 Suites by Hilton. (Another developer previously submitted plans for a Home2 Suites on a portion of the former Autoport property in State College, but those have not seen any movement in three years, despite some recent tree-clearing on another part of the property.)
Those are among at least eight hotels in various stages of planning or construction by several companies around Centre County — not including the return of the Nittany Lion Inn to the local lodging inventory this fall. They also include a Canopy by Hilton on South Allen Street and a condominium hotel at the corner of West Beaver Avenue and South Allen Street in State College; a long-term stay hotel on Fox Hill Road in Patton Township near State College Regional Airport; and a Holiday Inn on Dreibelbis Street in College Township, which is progressing toward completion after a long delay.
A short drive from the Tru by Hilton, another new hotel is also in development on Amberleigh Lane near Benner Pike. A township official told StateCollege.com last week that hotel — which construction bid information published online last fall identifies it as a dual brand Avid Hotel and Candlewood Suites — is expected to break ground soon, as well.
BENNER PIKE BOOM
The hotels are part of a commercial boom along the Benner Pike corridor near the Bellefonte exit of Interstate 99.
A new McDonald’s will open soon in the Paradise Shopping Center, where Giant supermarket became the anchor business when it opened in 2021. Directly across Paradise Road, a developer is looking to build the first Centre County Arby’s in more than a decade.
A short distance north, Wawa has submitted plans for one of its first Centre County locations near the Eagle Point intersection, across from rival Sheetz. Rutter’s convenience store and Dunkin‘ also have opened along Benner Pike in the last five years. And plans for a fulfillment center warehouse at Benner Commerce Park remain active, albeit at a much smaller scale than originally proposed.
Benner Township Supervisor Randy Moyer said he is grateful to see a hotel as part of the commercial growth.
“As a supervisor, we’re really glad to have this and we’ve worked long with our zoning and everybody to try to develop this area,” Moyer said. “We have a lot going on in our township. This is nice to see finally come around.”
Scott called the corridor a “tremendous link between Bellefonte and State College,” noting that the Chamber played a role in facilitating the transfer of some of the formerly state-owned Rockview land now being commercially developed.
“Think about the development that’s happened and will continue to happen in this very area,” Scott said. “This continues to grow. This is a great connector… [There are] exciting plans in the future for this area and I think it really ties into what we’re doing across the county.”
