Centre County lawmakers propose small sale of prison land to support Shiloh Road growth
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Two Centre County lawmakers introduced a bill to transfer about nine acres of prison land.
- The bill would transfer the parcel to Ferris Land Development.
- If approved, the property would be sold for $90,000 based on an independent appraisal.
Two state lawmakers who represent Centre County introduced a bill Friday that would transfer about nine acres of Pennsylvania prison land along a growing corridor to a private developer.
State Reps. Paul Takac, D-College Township, and Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, proposed selling the landlocked parcel to Ferris Land Development, which owns the adjacent Shiloh Road property to the south.
If approved by the state Legislature and Gov. Josh Shapiro, the property would be sold for $90,000 — the amount it was valued at by an independent appraiser.
“Because this parcel is landlocked with limited access and is therefore not attractive to most buyers, transferring the property to a developer that owns adjacent property is a unique opportunity to promote the economic prospects of an area with limited general marketability,” Takac and Benninghoff wrote in their memo to the rest of the state House. “Such economic development could also help make the area a commercial and residential draw to nearby State College residents.”
The wooded property in Benner Township is bordered by an Interstate 99 exit ramp to the north, Shiloh Road to the east and the University Area Joint Authority to the west.
The parcel is disconnected from the rest of the Benner Township and shuttered Rockview state prison properties and is not part of the active prison site. It represents about one-tenth of 1% the state owns.
Takac said discussions about the selling the property date back to before Rockview’s closure was even proposed. He said there is no connection between the potential sale and the prison’s closure.
“Given the very limited commercial viability of a landlocked piece of land — there’s no ingress or egress from — this appraised value is probably at the high end of what we could get even at an open auction,” Takac said. “It might end up being much less if there’s no bidders.”
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of General Services — a centralized administrative agency that acts as a business manager for the state — told the CDT the property has been under consideration “for some time” and is separate from Rockview.
Benner Township’s supervisors unanimously supported the potential sale during a special mid-April meeting. In a letter to Ron Ferris, the township’s decision-makers said the property is not conducive to stand-alone development and its most appropriate use is in conjunction with the adjacent property Ferris owns.
Benninghoff said the sale would bring some relief to residents in Benner Township, a municipality where more than half of its property is not taxable.
“Why just have it sitting there collecting no tax dollars when we have someone willing to spend money and develop it?” Benninghoff said. “... I don’t see what the big whoop-de-do over it is.”
Ferris is one of four developers along Shiloh Road who was working with local municipalities and the state Department of Transportation on a rare, coordinated infrastructure plan to accommodate what is expected to be significant growth in the area.
College Township Assistant Manager Mike Bloom said during a December meeting that the developers anticipate daily traffic on Shiloh Road between the I-99 interchange and Trout Road to more than triple if plans come to fruition.
The infrastructure improvements were projected to cost about $5.8 million, which does not include funding from either Benner or College townships. Funding would be supplied by the developers, grants and PennDOT.
Ferris’ property is expected to be home to at least a car dealership. Takac said his understanding is the nine-acre parcel would be used to address stormwater runoff, something he said would improve water quality in the Spring Creek Watershed.
Near the intersection of Shiloh and East Trout roads, construction began last year for a four-story Home2 Suites by Hilton hotel and a Park Home Furniture is in the works. College Township’s governing body has also approved the first phase of a major residential development in the area.
“We’ve done our due diligence by talking to the adjacent landowners, the local township folks, the folks at the county,” Takac said. “We just believe that — given the unique characteristics of this stranded piece of property with very limited potential for other development or use — this is very likely the best return to the state and that this transfer will actually achieve the objectives of essentially clearing this from the responsibility of the state taxpayers.”
The former Rockview property is still controlled by the state Department of Corrections, an agency spokesperson told the CDT. The facility and its roughly 5,700 acres will be maintained and secured by the DOC until it is sold.
A limited number of DOC staff remain to help with the removal and transfer of equipment to other facilities, as well as figuring out which areas of the property will be kept or marked as surplus.
Shapiro’s administration has not divulged any plans for the property, except that some of the land will remain with the DOC for next-door Benner Township state prison.