Wendy’s to Open at Former Burger King Property in State College

Updated March 3, 2022 with additional information and comments from CKA Management.

A different fast food restaurant is coming to a former Burger King property in State College.

Wendy’s will open at 521 University Drive, where franchisee CKA Management is currently performing a “complete remodel” of the existing building, director of operations Nick Cugine said. The restaurant is expected to open around May 15.

CKA operates the State College area’s other Wendy’s at 1610 N. Atherton St. The chain’s third Centre County location is located at 135 Buckaroo Lane in Bellefonte and is operated by a different franchisee.

“We see the State College area is a robust trade market and one in which we would like to expand our operations and explore new Wendy’s locations,” Cugine said.

Gregory Garthe, State College Borough senior planner, said the restaurant will not be adding a drive through. Although a motor vehicle oriented business is permitted on the property, Garthe said the company found the addition wasn’t feasible.

“They looked at the feasibility of that, but there just isn’t enough space to queue vehicles,” he said. “They would have needed to purchase additional land, so they dropped that idea.”

The new Wendy’s will have three kiosks at the front of the store where customers can place orders, as well as a mobile/digital order rack where guests can pick up their orders, Cugine said.

It will employ 20 to 25 people and will be open from 7 a.m. until midnight or later.

Plans for the property did not rise to the level of needing a land development plan, Garthe said. The borough’s Design Review Board is scheduled to review a signage plan on March 15, while most permits have come through the Centre Region Code Administration.

Burger King closed the University Drive location in June 2020 after decades in business there. It has a State College area location at 2501 E. College Ave. and one in Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center, as well as a Bellefonte restaurant.