Borough Seeks More Money For Fraser Centre; Hotel Sought, Too

With a 4-0 vote, the State College Redevelopment Authority agreed Thursday to seek as much as $480,000 in additional state funds to help pay for the delayed Fraser Centre project.

Borough staff will file the grant application with the Housing and Community Development Program, a branch of the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

The funds, if received, would go toward public-infrastructure elements of the planned mixed-use complex, said Jack Kay, president of York-based Susquehanna Real Estate. He said those elements could include utility work; paving; widened sidewalks; a green roof; and a tentatively planned, glass-enclosed walkway that would connect Fraser Centre with the Beaver Avenue parking garage.

That walkway would be built five stories above West Beaver Avenue as an enclosed pedestrian bridge between the structures. Kay said it would improve pedestrian safety, encourage more public use of Fraser Centre and improve accessibility, particularly for large-scale functions.

To that end, he added, Susquehanna is now looking add a hotel to the Fraser Centre plans, on the 100 block of South Fraser Street. If a hotel materializes, Kay said, the condominium portion or the retail-space portion of the $50 million complex may be reduced in size.

Kay ‘certainly, I thought, laid out a very good list that showed how the public would benefit’ from the $480,000 in hoped-for state grant money, said Vicki Fong, chairwoman of the Redevelopment Authority.

‘We were concerned that the project may run into difficulty,’ Fong said. ‘But I have to give credit to the Downtown State College Improvement District and Susquehanna for really sticking with it and coming up with viable opportunities to keep the project moving forward.’

Susquehanna, collaborating with the Downtown Improvement District on the project, is trying to align funding and other details to begin construction this summer or this fall, Kay said. Work was to have begun in 2008, but complications with financing and the weakened economy have helped delay a groundbreaking.

Kay said the group is ‘always looking’ for new funding otions.

‘We’re dealing with a very expensive piece of ground and very, very expensive construction’ given the urban environment, Kay said. He said it isn’t clear when project planners may receive an answer about their $480,000 state grant application.

And while the project does not hinge on that money, Kay said, ‘every little bit helps. This is a way to help close the gaps financially that we’ve been working on.’

The Fraser Centre plans have already received support from an array of public entities. The Borough Council in 2007 transferred some of the land that’s to be used in the project, which would cover just more than a quarter of a downtown block.

State officials also have committed $2.5 million to the plans, separate of the $480,000 in grants now being sought.

Another $2.5 million will be provided through tax-increment financing, a controversial practice that allows a portion of the new tax revenue generated by the complex to go toward its debt obligations.

Fraser Centre is expected to include upscale, owner-occupied condominiums and an underground parking garage for residents; office space; nearly 10,000 feet of retail space; and a 10-screen cinema. Penn State has discussed leasing some of the office space, university spokeswoman Jill Shockey said.

The university has committed to leasing some of the cinema space for classes.

Also Thursday, the Redevelopment Authority agreed to discuss potential creative uses for 224 S. Allen St., the former Verizon building that the borough bought in 2007. The Borough Council authorized the purchase largely with the hope that the property would be used for the Discovery Space children’s museum.

But the museum group recently announced plans to open the facility in a less-expensive location on West Foster Avenue. The Redevelopment Authority is expected to talk about 224 S. Allen St. in more detail later this summer.

Earlier coverage: Fraser Centre Plans To Add Office Space, May Not Include Bookstore