Centre County’s first Wawa is inching closer to becoming a reality.
Heavy equipment arrived last week on the parcel at the intersection of Benner Pike and Eagle Point in Benner Township for the start of site work on the first of the convenience store and gas station chain’s four planned stores in the county.
A Wawa spokesperson described the current activity as preparation work and said construction has not begun in earnest.
“The work being done at this site is by our developer in preparation for a Wawa store,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to StateCollege.com “We have not yet started our construction and are not able to provide any timing related to our store at this time.”
Benner Township Zoning Officer Mike Lesniak said the typical construction time for a commercial project of this kind would be about five to six months, but deferred to Wawa for specifics about the timeline.
Wawa plans to build a 6,600-square-foot store with 16 gas pumps on eight fueling station islands on the 1.893 acres in front of Graystone Court Villas, according to plans presented to the Centre County Board of Commissioners in 2023. Primary access will be from Eagle Point, with a right-out exit directly onto Benner Pike and access through the neighboring Dunkin’ property.
It’s one of two planned in the county that will be located directly across from a Sheetz store as the Delaware County-based Wawa continues its westward expansion in Pennsylvania. A Wawa store proposed for the Earlystown Road and Old Fort Road in Potter Township on the former Snappy’s location near Centre Hall is also across from one of its Altoona-based rival’s locations.
Wawa also has plans in the works for two State College area locations: One at the intersection of North Atherton Street and Aaron Drive in Ferguson Township, which approved a preliminary land development for the store on Dec. 9, and another East College Avenue and Squirrel Drive in College Township.
The company has declined to provide projected timelines for any of the Centre County locations.
“That is a tough question to answer. All of my developer partners and real estate folks here are working as hard as they can to get them open, as fast as they can,” John Poplawski, Wawa chief real estate officer, said at a community partnership event held in September at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. “We’re partnering with all the local officials, but things don’t happen overnight. If you’ve ever tried to get a permit to put a deck on your house, it takes time.”
Each new store will be a $7.5 million investment, with 140 contractors per store construction and 35 Wawa employees at each location, according to the company.
Nearby, stores in Clinton and Mifflin counties are on track to open in 2026, Wawa officials said at the September event.
