Housing Development Proposed for Part of Westerly Parkway Plaza, Waupelani Drive

Plans are in motion for a long-discussed housing complex on a portion of Westerly Parkway Plaza in State College.

The borough received on Oct. 11 a land development plan for The Retreat at Westerly to be located on the east side of the plaza and an empty field behind the plaza along Waupelani Drive, according to State College’s Planning Department website.

The plan proposes 142 “dwelling units and row dwelling units” of two to five bedrooms each with a total of 546 bedrooms on the 11.19-acre site. It would also include a 10,423-square-foot clubhouse, pool and amenities area.

State College’s Design Review Board and Planning Commission are scheduled to review on Nov. 19 and Nov. 21, respectively.

No businesses operate in the section of the plaza designated for the development. The west side of the plaza with Weis Markets, the future Crunch Fitness and other businesses is not part of the plan.

The last remaining business on the site of the planned development, The Frame Factory & Gallery, moved to Bellefonte in August after owner Bill Ebken said he was notified by the property owners that they planned to demolish the two buildings there.

Ebken said the New York-based real estate group that owns the property had been mentioning plans to raze those buildings for at least 10 years.

A real estate agent for the property said in 2020 that the owners planned to tear down the two buildings and construct a mixed-use development for student housing and commercial space. 

A 2019 income statement to members of the property’s investment group, State College Joint Venture, said that “a best-in-class student housing developer” had been selected for the project, which would involve the space where the two commercial buildings are currently located and a 3-acre parcel on Waupelani Drive. A 2021 statement, however, said the developer had backed out because of COVID-19 impacts, but that they may be interested in the future and other partnerships were being explored.

Plans for an apartment complex on the field along Waupelani Drive behind the plaza were submitted to the borough in 2017 but later withdrawn.