State College Borough Council Approves Revised Traffic Pattern Plan for High-Rise Construction

State College Borough Council on Monday unanimously approved a revised traffic pattern plan for construction of a downtown high-rise, less than a month after rejecting a previous plan that would have fully closed a street for two years.

Under the approved plan, only the southbound lane of Hetzel Street will be closed for two years — from Dec. 6, 2021 through Dec. 12, 2023 — while construction takes place for Chicago-based developer Core Spaces’ 12-story mixed-use building along East College Avenue, Hetzel Street and East Calder Way.

Prior to that, the sidewalk on the west side of Hetzel Street will be closed during demolition of four existing buildings on the project site, which will take place Sept. 30 through Dec. 3. The west side sidewalk will remain closed through the duration of construction.

The northbound lane of Hetzel Street will remain open for most of the construction period, although there will likely be some short-term full-road closures. Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said that as with other construction projects, any full closure of a week or more will require borough council approval. Short-term closures are monitored by borough staff.

“During construction there are periods of time due to deliveries and other activities where it’s almost impossible to bring an action to council due to the periodic nature of those closures,” Fountaine said.

Also during construction, a covered, lighted walkway will be installed adjacent to the project site on College Avenue. Vehicle and pedestrian access will be maintained on Calder Way and College Avenue.

The agreement will include considerations from the developer for use of the public rights of way, which Fountaine said are valued at $300,000 and include resurfacing of Calder Way and Hetzel Street, conduit and pole boxes for future fiber optics, rooftop occupancy for communications facilities owned by the borough, property pins at corners, sidewalks, light poles, curbs, gutters, accessible ramps, landscaping and other improvements.

Core Spaces and its construction manager, Massaro Corporation, previously sought to close both lanes of Hetzel Street for the duration of construction, but council denied that plan on July 12 because of the inconvenience to local motorists.

The developer submitted plans in 2019 for the new, 151-foot tall building which will have two floors of retail and office space and 10 floors of apartments. The plans were approved in 2020.

The first two floors of will have 36,448 square feet of retail and office space. The first floor will be predominantly retail, while the second floor could be retail or office and will also have five apartment units. The remaining 10 floors will have 13 apartments each for a total of 135 units, including a mix of one-, two-, four- and five-bedroom apartments accommodating a total of 493 beds. The total residential floor area is 181,318 square feet.

Three levels of underground parking will have 172 spaces, including nine for patrons of the commercial tenants.

Properties at 472, 480, 482, 484 E. College Ave.; 108, 110, 112, 114 Hetzel Street; and 471 E. Calder Way will be demolished for the new building. Those addresses are within four buildings and included Garden House apartments, Eddie’s Bicycles and Hockey Equipment, George’s Floral Boutique, Gio’s Hair Design, Pizza Mia, other apartments and a one-story house on Calder.

Pizza Mia owner John Jennings, who spoke in favor of the traffic plan, indicated Core Spaces will provide an area for him to have a food truck on Hetzel during construction to maintain the business’s presence in State College. Pizza Mia also operates locations in Bellefonte and Lock Haven.

“Core has been absolutely gracious to us through the negotiations, through helping us maintain our business,” Jennings said.