BELLEFONTE — The historic Bush House was destroyed by a fire way back in 2006, and the prime location along Spring Creek has sat vacant ever since. There is hope that work will begin at the site this summer on the long-anticipated Bellefonte Waterfront Project, which includes a boutique hotel, parking garage and residential condominium.
The project was announced in 2018 and after Bellefonte Waterfront Associates — led by developer Tom Songer II — officially purchased the property in 2019, the hope was to start construction in the summer of 2020 with plans to open the hotel in the summer of 2021. COVID-19 and the pandemic, though, got in the way, delaying the project.
During a Feb. 7 borough council meeting, Songer offered an update on the project and asked council to consider the proposed Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Draft Ordinance and District Boundaries in order to help support the project.
“We are working hard to bring the Bellefonte Waterfront Project to fruition. We are making progress. COVID slowed us down and still is having an impact on the project, as it has on many projects throughout the country,” Songer said. “As you are aware, it is hard to get materials nowadays to build anything. Prices have gone up substantially, but we are still working hard to bring this project out of the ground hopefully this summer.”
Songer cited a recent meeting with the project’s financial team and said they were, “very excited about the project. It is the kind of project that they are involved with in other parts of the country, and they are excited to be a part of hoping to finance our project here.”
Because of the huge financial investment, Songer said he hopes the borough will pass the requested LERTA ordinance.
LERTA is a tax abatement program created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1977 authorizing local taxing authorities to provide tax exemption. The purpose of the legislation is to incentivize redevelopment of aging or deteriorating properties.
Municipalities can consider adopting legislation to allow for a graduated increase in tax payments on improvements to properties in the historic downtown core of the community. LERTA does require an application and approval of the graduated 10-year tax abatement for the property. The owner continues paying taxes on the assessed value of the property but taxes on improvements to the property are phased in over the 10-year period.
“Every little bit helps when you start a project. The money goes in one direction and there is a lot of challenges yet to go,” said Songer.
The LERTA ordinance must be approved by the borough, school district and county to realize the full incentive. Each taxing authority decides whether it will adopt the LERTA.
When State College established a LERTA in 2018, the borough and county adopted the program, but the biggest piece of the tax pie, State College Area School District, rejected it. The first beneficiary of State College’s LERTA, the Scholar Hotel, still completed its restoration of the historic Glennland Building with the school district tax assistance
Bellefonte is proposing a borough-wide LERTA district. The borough opened the matter to public comment before finalizing the draft ordinance. The next step would be talking to the school district and county, before voting on the matter.
“We really want their partnership on this,” borough manager Ralph Stewart said.
The planned 80-room boutique hotel includes a restaurant and banquet and meeting spaces facing Spring Creek and Talleyrand Park. A residential condominium building on the north side of the property will include four floors of one- and two-bedroom apartments above the first floor of office and retail space. Between the two buildings will be a 300-space parking garage structure that will also include commercial and retail space on the first floor. In total, the project includes 25,000 square feet of available commercial space along Spring Creek and Dunlap Street.
“We are hopeful that we won’t have a problem attracting good employees. That’s another issue that everybody, all my contractor friends, business friends and even people in high technology companies are having problems trying to attract workers,” Songer said.
“What we think about our project that is unique, is hopefully, a lot of people who live here in Bellefonte could actually walk to work. I think that is a major plus that our project has over, say, a project that is built somewhere else, even say an industrial park. Because people have to find transportation and that isn’t cheap. But if you can live in that community and work in that community, that is a big plus. Hopefully we will be able to employ a lot of Bellefonte people.”
He said after 10 years when the LERTA exemption ends, the business in the project would be established and paying full taxes in Bellefonte.
“You have to have faith, and the fact is in the long run, it is going to be a very worthwhile project that will contribute to the greater community,” Songer said.
