Penn Highlands Healthcare Buys Land in Patton Township

Penn Highlands Healthcare, based in DuBois, recently purchased land near Sheetz on Colonnade Boulevard and Waddle Road. The land purchased is on part of the property that has long been in the plans for the Patton Town Center.

An original plan for the Town Center was approved back in 2008, when the document called for a hotel, shopping center and restaurant.

Those plans have changed over the years. The first phase of development brought the Cracker Barrel restaurant, which opened in 2011. Sheetz, which opened in 2017, marked the second phase. A hotel is no longer part of the plans.

In April 2018, the final plan for the development was presented to Patton Township and included a 68,200-square-foot medical office building on the space formerly proposed for a hotel. Those plans were submitted to the Centre County recorder of deeds in August 2018 by Waddle Real Estate LP, and included the proposed medical center.

DuBois Medical Center and Penn Highlands DuBois bought the property from Waddle Real Estate LP for $6.9 million on Jan. 28, according to documents from the  recorder of deeds.

Dave Trudell, a marketing and communication director at Penn Highlands Healthcare, confirmed that the property was purchased, but that plans haven’t been finalized in how the property will be utilized.

Penn Highlands is a health care provider in the northwest part of the state with hospitals in Clearfield, Brookville, Elk County and DuBois.

The Patton Town Center plans also include a 9,000-square-foot, tavern-style restaurant behind Cracker Barrel. To the west of Sheetz, the plans call for a 15,000-square-foot retail strip that could have up to five businesses, depending on who leases the space and how much square footage is negotiated. A 2,790-square-foot concrete pad for outdoor restaurant seating will be installed adjacent to the retail building.

The third phase will add 435 parking spaces overall for a site total of 670.