The Penn State Mobile Home Park has been vacant for three years, but the future of the site appears to be unfolding.
Developers have had conversations with Patton Township’s planning commission and staff for three months about what to do with the dormant land. The answer, developer Ara Kervandjian said, includes residential and commercial space.
“As a developer and the township, we want to build something accommodating for the entire community,” he said. “We want it done right. We’re really not rushing, because we want a really nice facility. We are working closely with the township, and we appreciate the effort of both sides to make it special.”
Kervandjian said it would be “improper” to get into the specifics of Patton Crossing, the name of the development at 1752 N. Atherton St., because details are still being discussed with the township.
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“We don’t want the land to sit vacant,” Patton Township Manager Doug Erickson said. “We want to see investment in the community, and I think what the developers have proposed is something we’ve talked about for a lot of years.”
The conceptual master plan for the 30-acre development includes a grocery store, commercial, office, hotel and residential space. The conceptual design’s main entrance and exit off North Atherton Street is at the intersection with Woodycrest Street. There would also be access to the development off Park Forest Avenue and Wolfs Lane.
The developers of the project have requested rezoning to make the town-center style project possible, according to the planning commission’s June 5 agenda, and planning commission members have directed staff to develop a new mixed-use overlay district. A traffic impact study is being conducted by the developers and will be reviewed by the township prior to the supervisor’s considering rezoning.
“We’ll have to work out a lot of details prior to rezoning,” Erickson said. “When the developers brought in the concept plan we all liked the picture, so we’re working hard to write regulations to make sure the development looks like the picture.”
If developers break ground in the summer of 2018, Erickson said, the project would be moving at a “super-fast pace.”
“I encouraged them not to eliminate office space,” Erickson said. “From a regional standpoint, we’re looking for companies that want to come in with employees that have good jobs and that want Class A office space.”
The land was purchased in 2012 for $5.5 million by 1752 North Atherton Street Associates.
Shawn Annarelli: 814-235-3928, @Shawn_Annarelli
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