The new owner of the former Rite Aid property in Bellefonte intends to repurpose the building for five commercial tenants, according to information included in Tuesday night’s Borough Council agenda.
Cedar Cliff Properties’ current plans for the 14,673-square-foot-building at 821 E. Bishop St. include a fitness center, sandwich shop, coffee shop, phone carrier retail store and one other unspecified business, engineer PennTerra wrote in a project narrative submitted to the borough on Dec. 31.
Names of the businesses planned for the building were not disclosed, but Cedar Cliff Properties’ work in Centre County may provide a hint to the sandwich shop’s identity. The LLC has been used in the development of Jersey Mike’s Subs locations in the State College area, and the national sandwich shop chain’s local franchisee, Matt Patterson, confirmed his involvement in the Bellefonte property acquisition to StateCollege.com in November, after Cedar Cliff Properties purchased it for $1.5 million.
The fitness center would be the largest component of the plan, encompassing 5,800 square feet at the rear of the building. The 1,848-square-foot coffee shop, 1,713-square-foot phone carrier store, 1,694-square-foot sandwich shop and a 1,920-square-foot space for an undetermined food and beverage establishment would all be located in a row at the front of the building, according to the land development plan.
New entrance doors would be installed for each of the tenant spaces, with the front elevation raised by 16 inches to better accommodate ADA access, according to the project narrative. The sidewalk along the south side of the building would be removed and replaced to be level with the new elevation.
The existing drive-thru used by the Rite Aid pharmacy would be converted into three new parking spaces and a pickup window would be installed on the west side of the building for coffee preorder pickups.
A total of 70 parking spaces, including five ADA spaces, are included in the plans, two more than are currently on site and 10 more than required. Site access will remain unchanged.
Bellefonte Planning Commission recommended conditional approval for the property land development plan, but council took no action on Tuesday night.
“The conditions that remain are substantive enough that we don’t feel this is ready for council action,” Interim Borough Manager David Pribulka said.
For example, Pribulka said, the borough is awaiting verification that a sewage facilities planning module has been submitted to and approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
“Once we’ve allowed the conditions of this plan to advance a little bit to the point we feel comfortable in recommending this for conditional approval, you’ll see it again on a council agenda, hopefully in pretty short order here,” Pribulka said.
Rite Aid closed its Bellefonte store in late 2023. The company has since closed all of its stores, including three others in Centre County, after filing for bankruptcy.
