The owner of the former Autoport property in State College is revising plans for redevelopment of the site and has pushed back the timeline for public review at two borough meetings.
A preliminary land development plan for a new commercial complex on the South Atherton Street property had been scheduled for review first in March and then in April by the State College Planning Commission and Design Review Board. But owner/developer South Atherton Real Estate 1 LP plans to submit a revised plan, after which review by the two appointed bodies will be scheduled for dates to be determined, borough senior planner Daniel McCombie said on Monday.
Plans submitted in February for what would be a multi-phase development included a convenience store and gas station, two restaurants with drive-thrus and five retail buildings, along with other site improvements.
Because the plan is being revised, not withdrawn for a new submission, it is unlikely to significantly deviate from the initial proposal.
The property has sat vacant for more than a decade since the Autoport, Pennsylvania’s oldest motel, closed in December 2015. The owners faced foreclosure and auction since 2014 and declared bankruptcy earlier in 2015 before selling the property to South Atherton Real Estate 1 LP for $2.1 million.
The first movement to rejuvenate the site came in 2020, when plans were submitted for an 80,000-square foot, four-story building on a parcel separate from the new plan at the northwest end of the site. It would have included a 122-room Home2 Suites by Hilton and eight apartments, but the plan was reviewed but was subsequently withdrawn by the developer.
In May 2024, numerous trees were cleared from the length of the site, and a month later Bennett Williams Commercial real estate agency listed parcels on the property for lease as part of a “new, high-end retail development.”
The preliminary land development plan submitted this year by project engineer PennTerra showed a 6,538-square foot convenience store with fueling canopy and 14 pumps planned at the southeastern end of the property for phase one of the development. Phase two included a cluster with a 2,033-square-foot restaurant with a drive- thru and five retail buildings ranging from 1,333 to 2,400 square feet.
Phase three showed another, 5,484-square-foot restaurant with drive-thru ordering and pick-up canopies. The fourth phase appears to be related to an existing storage building and parking, though details of planned improvements were not clear.
Plans also showed an access driveway with a proposed signalized intersection on South Atherton Street between the phase one and phase two developments. New landscaping and a stone retaining wall along the length of the property fronting South Atherton Street were depicted in the land development plan and renderings, as well.
Borough Planning Director Ed LeClear said the developer has not provided the borough with names of specific tenants. Gregory Welteroth, the owner of South Atherton Real Estate 1 LP, did not respond to a request for information.
