The 85-year-old Glennland Building in downtown State College won’t be sold anytime soon, after all.
Building co-owner Richard L. Campbell said the prospective buyer, who planned to convert the apartment and office building at 205 E. Beaver Ave. to a boutique hotel, has decided not to go through with the purchase, citing renovation costs.
‘We were told that the cost of necessary renovations were substantially higher than anticipated given the condition and age of the building,’ Campbell said in an email to StateCollege.com. ‘We are going back to where we were and offering longterm leases to commercial tenants and one-year leases to graduates and undergraduates.’
Commercial and residential tenants were notified this week that they could now renew their leases.
Campbell said there are no longterm plans as of yet to put the building back on the market or redevelop it.
Plans to sell the building, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, were revealed in the spring. Tenants were told in March new leases would not be offered and that they would need to leave by Dec. 31.
The unnamed prospective buyer was identified as a Midwest company that specializes in converting historic buildings into hotels.
Built in 1933 by builder O.W. Houts and physician Dr. Grover Glenn, the Glennland has been owned by the Campbell family since a few years after it opened, first by Judge R. Paul Campbell, who passed it down to his children and grandchildren.
It’s been a history-making building in its eight decades. For 40 years it was the tallest building in State College and was home to the region’s first public elevator and first indoor swimming pool. The pool closed in 1967, but the colorful mosaic tiles remain to brighten offices and serve as a reminder of the building’s history.
The Campbells have made significant investments to maintain the building in recent years, but decided to sell after studying the costs for repairs and maintenance and to fend off deterioration. Campbell and his sister, Nancy Campbell Slagle, have said repairs are needed for the building’s exterior, retaining walls, elevator service and air conditioning. The family had already recently spent $1 million on electrical and heating systems.
“An effort has always been made to make the building a credit to the community,” Campbell recently told Town&Gown.
