Final Plan Approved for Mediterranean Restaurant Chain’s First Centre County Location

A Mediterranean restaurant chain’s first Centre County location can move toward construction following plan approval last week.

Cava‘s final land development plan for a restaurant to be located in the Patton Crossing development at 1752 N. Atherton St. received unanimous approval from the Patton Township Board of Supervisors on Wednesday.

The 2,500-square-foot restaurant building, associated infrastructure and 40 parking spaces will be located on a 3.16-acre parcel at the northeast corner of the development. It will be on the opposite side of the Patton Crossing entry road from Aldi and accessed via the entry road and the new Meridian Drive.

A conditional use permit for a drive-thru to be included with the restaurant was approved by the board in April after multiple discussions. The drive-thru functions only as a pickup window for orders placed in advanced online or by phone and will not allow placing drive-thru orders on site.

Jenna Wargo, principal planner for the Centre Regional Planning Authority, said Cava worked with planning staff to ensure the drive-thru would not have an adverse impact on traffic flow within or outside the development. Should the property undergo a change of use in the future, a new conditional use permit application would be required to allow for a drive-thru.

The company also adjusted the alignment of the drive-thru and added a stop sign at the exit to avoid conflict with vehicles pulling into or out of nearby ADA parking spaces.

Most Cava customers dine inside or order inside to go, Tony Fruchtl, of project engineer PennTerra, said earlier this year.

Cava’s menu features a wide variety of bowls, pitas, dips and beverages. It opened its first restaurant in 2010 in Maryland and now has more than 340 locations in 26 states. In Pennsylvania, it has nine restaurants, all in the eastern half of the state and most in the Philadelphia area.

Its planned Patton Township location is part of phase 2 of the 30-acre Patton Crossing development. The master plan for the development includes multiple phases to be built out over about 20 years with restaurants, retail, a hotel and residential buildings.

Aldi, which opened in 2021, was the first of nearly 20 buildings planned. A plan for a bank, which would have been located on the lot adjacent to Cava’s planned restaurant, was previously approved as part of phase 2, but it was not built.

Supervisors recently approved a letter of support for the Patton Crossing developers’ application for a grant from the state’s Mixed-Use Housing Development Pilot Program for a project to construct 135 residential units and 15,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space within the development. The residential units would include 12 affordable units for residents between 65% and 85% of the area median income.

The application was one of 104 submitted to the new grant program, and the developers were notified in April that the project had advanced to the second round for consideration, Township Manager Amy Farkas said at the supervisors’ April 23 meeting.