A local auto dealer plans to buy the College Township building that has been the headquarters of the Centre Daily Times for more than 47 years.
The newspaper first reported on Tuesday morning that it “will be searching for a new home,” as Stuckey Mitsubishi finalizes plans to purchase the building at 3400 E. College Ave.
Karen Beauchamp, marketing director for Stuckey Automotive, confirmed to StateCollege.com that the Mitsubishi dealership intends to move all of its sales, parts and service operations from its current, nearby spot at 150 Shiloh Road to the new location.
“When we opened Stuckey Mitsubishi last year, we were operating our sales and service centers between Benner Pike and Shiloh Road,” Beauchamp said. “It was clear from the beginning we would need a space that would allow us to grow and cater to our customers in and around Centre County. During our search, we learned the Centre Daily Times was evolving their needs for a new location. We arranged a tour of the building and instantly felt at home.”
Stuckey currently has 20 sales and service employees. It will “fully utilize the new site and increase employment immediately by adding 10 full-time employees,” Beauchamp said. An additional 10 full-time positions are projected over the next two to three years.
Once the sale is finalized and pending permit and planning approvals from the township, Stuckey plans to begin renovation work on the building immediately, Beauchamp said.
The CDT has been headquartered at the Dale Summit building since 1973 and was located in downtown State College for more than 30 years before that, according to the newspaper.
“As our physical location and offices evolve, our mission continues to be to provide essential news, information and advertising to the readers and businesses of Centre County,” CDT president and publisher Janet Santostefano said in the newspaper’s report on Tuesday. “We look forward to serving this mission from a new location with more details to come soon.”
In 2020, McClatchy Co., the CDT’s parent company, moved the local paper’s print and packaging operations to Harrisburg, eliminating 13 jobs at the College Township facility.
McClatchy, which publishes 30 newspapers, filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2020. It was subsequently acquired by New Jersey-based hedge fund Chatham Asset Management, the newspaper chain’s largest creditor, following a court-supervised auction.
