With Construction Under Way, Developers and Community Look to Future of New Garner Street Lot Building

Amid the new high rises in downtown State College that have been completed or are in progress, the one being constructed on the former Garner Street parking lot is unique.

It will, like the others, be home to apartments — 227 units and about 800 beds, mostly expected to be occupied by student residents. It will have two levels of retail and restaurants, but the more than 30,000 square feet of commercial space will be centered on a public gathering courtyard area.

And 18,000 square feet across two floors on the Beaver Avenue side of the property will become the new home for Penn State Hillel, the foundation for Jewish campus life at the university.

Though work on the new 12-story building — officially called Here at State College and expected to open in the fall of 2020 — commenced in early September, representatives from developer CA Ventures, the Hillel and Penn State community and property owners the Friedman family gathered at the site on Friday for a ceremonial groundbreaking.

‘Penn State is home to one of the largest Jewish student populations in the country and one of the fastest growing Hillels in the world,’ said Aaron Kaufman, Penn State Hillel executive director. ‘In just a couple of years it will also be home to one of the most innovative Hillel buildings as well.’

The new Nancy and Bernard Gutterman Center for Jewish Life, named in honor of the lead donors to Hillel for the project, will include lounge and study spaces, shared staff and student leadership workspace, flexible event spaces and a private terrace.

‘This will enable Penn State Hillel to provide even more opportunities for the thousands of Jewish students on campus,’ said Hillel member Emi Naidoff. ‘With this groundbreaking, it is the start of building a bright future for Hillel, Jewish students, the Penn State community and the surrounding community as a whole.’

An artist’s rendering Penn State Hillel’s new Nancy and Bernard Gutterman Center for Jewish Life was on display at a groundbreaking event on Oct. 26

Penn State Hillel acquired its portion of the property, the former site of a Citizens Bank, in 2011. The Friedmans meanwhile owned the remaining parking lot portion of the property.

CA Ventures, which recently built The Rise at 538 E. College Ave., had been interested for years in developing property in State College.

‘We formed a partnership with the Friedmans, introduced ourselves to Hillel and figured out a way to bring all of the stakeholders together in this project,’ said JJ Smith, president of the company’s CA Student Living. ‘That’s what really makes it unique. That’s what redefines it. It’s really a partnership among several organizations.’

Smith said he believes the site ‘is one of the best properties across the country in the university market.’

Ten floors of Here will have residential units, with a rooftop lounge and amenity space.

The building will have underground parking accessible from Hiester Street, and Smith said that will include parking for commercial and residential tenants plus about 150 public spaces to replace those lost from the former parking lot.

A grand staircase will lead up from the Calder Way side into an open public courtyard that will be surrounded by two levels of retail and restaurant tenants, ‘a mix of mom-and-pop shops and name-brand retail that will really redefine the center of town here,’ Smith said.

The concept is to have is to have the feel of a ‘European arcade’ or Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Jonathan Friedman previously said at a State College Borough Council meeting.

On Friday, Ron Friedman said he couldn’t yet divulge how many retail spaces it will include or the businesses that have expressed interest.

‘This building is going to have a grand staircase which we liken to the Spanish Steps in Rome and it’s going to be an area that’s going to invite people to gather,’ Ron Friedman said. ‘That’s our idea, then we’ll have retail and restaurant tenants that will enhance the concept.

‘We can assure the community it’s going to be something we’re all going to be proud of and happy to visit.’

Artist’s rendering of the central courtyard area.

Penn State President Eric Barron was on hand for the groundbreaking and said he was excited to see development that will benefit the campus and State College communities, adding that Penn State Hillel, which was founded in 1935, has been ‘a true partner in enhancing the campus experience for all of our students,’ and in working with other student and religious organizations to provide events and programming.

‘This is a building that promises to be a wonderful new addition to downtown State College as well as a hub for Jewish life,’ Barron said. ‘Penn State’s always happy to see positive growth in the downtown area and I’m especially happy to see this mixed-use project as a new home for Penn State Hillel.

‘This new space will serve Penn State’s more than 5,000 Jewish students and provided a physical as well as spiritual home for the community.’

Here at State College is phase one of a potential two-phase project. The second phase would involve redeveloping the block of East College Avenue between Garner and Hiester with the staircase continuing down to College Avenue and adjoining the two phases to form a single campus.

The developers have said phase one is not dependent on phase two ever moving forward.

Construction on Here at State College is expected to be completed in the fall of 2020.