STATE COLLEGE — State College borough council approved a $1.5 million loan to the State College Redevelopment Authority during its meeting on Monday, Oct. 7. The loan will be put toward the renovation of the former Alpha Chi Sigma house at 406 S. Pugh St., which will become the new home of the local nonprofit organization Centre Helps.
The former fraternity house, at 406 S. Pugh St., is owned by the State College Redevelopment Authority who has been in conversation about the property development for several years.
“In early 2021, council requested the State College Borough Redevelopment Authority purchase the former Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity at 406 S. Pugh St. and provided two loans totaling $1,674,283.92 to finance the acquisition. The conditions of the sale require the property to be used for affordable housing or to house human service agencies that provide affordable housing or homelessness and special needs services,” outlined an agenda for a meeting on Monday, Sept. 16, where the loan was discussed.
The $1.5 million loan will come from cash reserves of the borough’s and will be paid back by the State College Redevelopment Authority over the next 15 years at 5% interest.
Borough Manager Tom Fountaine noted during the Monday, Oct. 7, meeting that this would match the current earning on investments the cash reserves are currently making.
Since 2021, the Redevelopment Authority has been saving funds to contribute to the project and working with nonprofit housing partners of the borough’s, such as Out of the Cold and Housing Transitions and developers who create low-income housing projects.
By 2023, the Redevelopment Authority found that Centre Helps needed significant additional office space. Since Centre Helps’ lease in its current space ends in April 2025, the timeline for redevelopment of Alpha Chi Sigma would be cut short.
To aid the renovation costs in the shortened timeline, the borough discussed approving the loan to the Redevelopment Authority. The total cost for the rehabilitation project is $1,959,834, in addition to a $500,000 contingency plan.
The Redevelopment Authority has contracted Weber Murphy Fox to renovate the first two floors of the building into office space for Centre Helps.
Centre Helps is a local nonprofit organization which aid residents in times of crisis or hardships through connecting them with other community resources and with their 24/7 crisis hotline.
