After years of debate, this Ferguson Township development is making headway. Here’s what’s next
After a two-year court battle and contentious debate and protests, Toll Brothers’ new luxury student housing project in Ferguson Township is progressing, with some units expected to be completed in the spring and public improvements on the way.
The Yards at Old State — formerly named The Cottages at State College — will fill “a genuine need for high-quality housing” that supports students, according to Toll Brothers National Director of Brand and Marketing John Piedrahita.
“This community has been designed with a strong focus on education, social connection, health and wellness and individuality,” Piedrahita wrote in an email.
The development will house 1,000 residents in over 200 units and includes the development of the adjacent Whitehall Road Regional Park and surrounding roadways. Led by Horsham-based developer Toll Brothers, the site sits on about 45 acres of farmland in Ferguson Township, formerly part of a 565-acre parcel owned by Penn State.
Once complete, the housing development will offer two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom yardhouses, with two and three-story living options. According to the development website, each apartment will come fully-furnished with a full-size washer and dryer and private bathroom for each tenant. The project’s 24-hour luxury clubhouse will house an arcade, cafe, business center and a 3,900-square-foot fitness center.
The Yards is a two phase construction project. Some units could be finished as early as March 2020, said Asset Living Regional Lease-up Specialist Ryan Soderquist. If the project goes according to plan, the first move-in dates would occur in July or August, Piedrahita said.
“The rest of the units will be completed during the 2020-21 school year for full delivery by fall 2021,” Soderquist wrote in an email.
New traffic signal, road extension coming
From the early stages of the project, community members and the Nittany Valley Water Coalition, which had members occupying the site for 124 days in summer 2017 before being evicted by Penn State, had concerns about the legality of zoning and potential impacts of water quality. In November 2017, a state Supreme Court decision allowed the land sale between Penn State and a subsidiary of Toll Brothers to close.
Ferguson Township Manager David Pribulka said the project comes with several public improvements that will benefit the community, including the construction of a traffic signal at the intersection of Bristol Avenue and Blue Course Drive and extending Blue Course Drive with an entrance to Whitehall Road Regional Park.
The projects came at no extra cost for the township, Pribulka said. In addition to the added roadway and safety features, the developer was required to pay a fee in lieu of parkland to the township for not providing parkland on-site.
“This money can be used to offset costs associated with the provision of public recreational facilities,” Pribulka said.
Next steps for Whitehall Road Regional Park
The development of Whitehall Road Regional Park, which has been in works for more than a decade, was delayed during the litigation over the student housing development. As part of the sale agreement, the developer was required to provide road and utility infrastructure for the planned park. Once the legal battle ended, Toll Brothers was given approval to move forward with the development plans.
“That green light allowed the public-private partnership to become active again which allows that infrastructure to be provided for the park’s development,” states the Centre Region Parks and Recreation website. “That infrastructure has a value of approximately $1.2 million and allows the agency to reinvest those funds in the phase one development of the park.”
Phase one of the two-part project remains in the land development process with Ferguson Township, said CRPR Director Pam Salokangas. The township’s planning commission will review the plan for a second time at its Dec. 3 meeting.
“The CRPR Authority remains hopeful that the land development process will be complete in December (or) January,” Salokangas said. “Once that process is complete, the next steps will be to identify a project management team to finalize all necessary construction documentation and begin the bid process for phase one development.”
Once approved, phase one includes a walking trail, year-round pavilion, two medium-sized athletic fields, two tournament-sized grass fields with an upgrade to include synthetic turf and LED lights, and a universally-accessible playground. The budget remains at $4.8 million with funds secured through a bank loan.
Unfunded items are being paid for by state grants, foundation awards and donations from businesses and individuals.
In October, state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, and Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, announced that CRPR received $100,000 for LED lights to be installed at the park’s turf fields. The total cost of light installation is $750,000.
The park will be the third park to be developed in the area and will be the first with a fully-accessible playground and wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round in Centre County, Salokangas said.
“The authority, which is considered a municipal authority and which holds a nonprofit status, is hoping to secure approximately $3 million for unfunded needs and upgrades,” Salokangas said. “To date, the authority has received $807,017 in grants, donations and pledges and will continue fundraising for unfunded needs and alternate upgrades well into 2020.”
