Early plans suggest new life on the way for State College’s former Autoport property
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- Early plans propose development for the former Autoport property in State College.
- Preliminary designs show new retail spaces, restaurants and a convenience store.
- The property has remained vacant since the Autoport motel closed in 2015.
Development is seemingly on the way for a site that once held a historic State College motel.
Land development plans submitted to the State College borough show spaces for a gas station and convenience store, new restaurants, retail spaces and more are planned for the former Autoport motel property along South Atherton Street. If approved, the plans would breathe new life into the property, which has sat empty for more than a decade.
Plans drawn by PennTerra Engineering, Inc., appear to show a four-phase project timeline that would begin with the construction of a 6,358-square-foot convenience store and 14-pump fuel canopy on the property’s southeastern side. A second phase of construction in the property’s center would install five separate retails spaces ranging between 1,333 and 2,400 square feet, as well as a 2,033-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru and patio area.
A third phase of construction there intends to construct a larger, 5,484-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru, complete with canopies for ordering and picking up food. The fourth and final phase of work would seemingly spruce up an existing 3,548-square-foot storage building nestled in the northwestern corner of the property.
It is not yet clear what businesses or restaurants are intended to occupy the retail spaces planned for the property.
The plans also suggest crews would plant 75 trees and hundreds of shrubs throughout the property.
State College borough planning director Ed LeClear and the developer listed on the plans, South Atherton Real Estate of the Welteroth Property Group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment and clarification regarding the proposed project.
The State College borough’s five-member Design Review Board is expected to review the plans at its April 7 meeting, senior borough planner Daniel McCombie said. The borough’s planning commission is slated to review the plans on April 8.
The former Autoport property has sat vacant with little or no changes for years. Several trees were removed from the property in May 2024, marking the first signs of activity in nearly a decade.
The Autoport was Pennsylvania’s oldest operating motel when it closed in December 2015. Its former owners declared bankruptcy and eventually sold the property for $2.1 million.
Development appeared in sight for the property when plans for a new 122-room Home2 Suites by Hilton hotel were submitted in January 2020, but the project never materialized. The site along the 1400 block of South Atherton Street was later posted for lease in June 2024.
This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 1:12 PM.
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