Downtown State College parking lot will close permanently as new development takes shape
There will be one less place to park in downtown State College beginning next week.
The 31-spot Allen Street lot will permanently close on May 13, the borough announced Tuesday, due to the Town Centre development. The developers expect utility installation to begin next week.
The Town Centre development is a 160-room hotel with retail space, office space, on-site parking and residential living spaces. The project will require demolishing the existing structure at 224 S. Allen Street. A new building will be constructed around the Jeramar Building (228 S. Allen St.), which houses businesses such as Cozy Thai.
Parking will be provided underneath the structure, but will only be for guests and staff of the planned hotel.
Plans submitted last May include two bars/restaurants, commercial space on three different floors, a 172-spot parking garage and a 160-room hotel on the 200 block of South Allen Street.
The preliminary plans showed a bar/restaurant on the ninth floor would have an opening to two terraces for outdoor dining. The terraces — which combine for 3,190 square feet — are about 75% the size of the indoor bar/restaurant itself. A bar/restaurant on the building’s lower level — below the first floor — would be just under 7,000 square feet.
Commercial space would also be available on the lower level, first floor and second floor, although it’s not yet known what specific bars/restaurants and businesses/organizations might fill those spaces. The only business that was specified in the preliminary plan was Canopy by Hilton, which intends to take over the 160-room hotel, with rooms on Floors 4-9.
The developer is Highland Holding Group, which is based in State College.
