The site of a State College convenience store may be redeveloped with a new commercial and residential building.
HFL Corporation, the owner of Fresh-N-Fill at 401 S. Pugh St., is seeking to have the property rezoned as commercial so that it can build a four-story building with one floor of commercial/retail and three floors of apartments.
State College Borough Council on Monday night voted unanimously to refer the zoning amendment to Planning Commission for review and recommendation.
The store was built in the early 1970s as part of a service station when the parcel was zoned commercial. In 1975, rezoning moved the line for commercial just north of the parcel to the middle of East Nittany Avenue and the convenience store property was rezoned as residential office.
In years since then it has operated only as a convenience store, and the owners said the lot has been underutilized and somewhat depressed with a now old and unattractive building.
Herm Slaybaugh, consultant for HFL, told borough council the current zoning would make it difficult to redevelop the lot.
‘Under the ROA designation, which it currently is, development rights are very limited and, quite frankly, financially makes it unfeasible to redevelop the property,’ Slaybaugh said.
Just across Nittany Avenue from the lot is Nicholas Tower, which is zoned commercial.
Artist’s rendering of what a new, four-story mixed use building at 401 S. Pugh St. could look like. Image via HFL Corporation/Borough of State College
Architect Michael Haluga said the proposed new building would have about 1,500 feet of commercial and retail space on the first floor. HFL does not yet have specific plans for what would go there, and it could be a convenience store, other retail or office space.
The remaining three floors would each have four four-bedroom apartments, for a total of 12 units. Haluga said they likely would be rented by undergraduate students, graduate students or young professionals.
Borough ordinance requires one of those to be inclusionary housing. Planning director Ed LeClear said that past research has shown the greatest demand for affordable units is for two-bedroom apartments. Haluga said the plans could be modified to have two two-bedroom units for inclusionary housing.
The lot would have 18 parking spaces, with access to and from East Nittany Avenue. A portion of the parking would be beneath the raised structure of the building with the remainder exposed and screened off from the residential area to the east.
Haluga said the plans are designed to be sensitive to pedestrian traffic along Pugh Street and Nittany Avenue.
Council member Theresa Lafer asked what would prevent a taller structure from being built there if the lot was rezoned commercial. Slaybaugh said that theoretically a six-story building could be constructed, but the parking requirements that come with additional floors mean the building would have to be much narrower.
