Nittany Valley Sports Centre plan gets revamp

Supervisors set a Jan. 27 public hearing date for a revised Nittany Valley Sports Centre development plan during their last meeting Dec. 9.

Highlighted by developer Mark Torretti, of PennTerra Engineering, the new plan makes more extensive use of the property owned by his client, local developer Michael Lee. According to Torretti, the revision was sparked by the realization that the center does not need to be the most visible facility on the site.

“The center itself won’t pay for the entire investment of the land,” he said. “There are other potential uses for that area, and the visibility could be better used on something else.”

The center and accompanying facilities are planned for the tract located at the intersection of Fox Hill and Bernel roads. When proposed more than a year ago, the plan sought to build a sports center with indoor fields, a gymnastics school and room for offices.

Future phases of the plan were to include additional fields, a hotel and a private secondary school.

While the sports center is still the primary push for the development, according to Torretti’s presentation, the future phases have been altered. A hotel may still be a possibility, but the school has been replaced with a dozen duplex units.

The sports center has been moved to the back corner of the property now, Torretti told supervisors, with a road, dubbed “Champions Drive,” bisecting the property. This new road will offer a right-of-way for the township to have access to the adjacent property should it ever develop.

The center is the same building as before, he said — 85,000 square feet offering turf fields and a gymnastics school. An exterior turf field will also be installed during this first phase of construction for use during the warmer months.

About 330 parking spaces will accompany the center, he said, with additional expansions, outdoor turf fields and overflow parking planned in subsequent phases.

An existing home on the property will be subdivided off the tract and sold as a single family home, he said. Two additional lots will be created, which will allow for commercial service-type uses.

Once the master plan is approved, two plans will be submitted, Torretti said. A subdivision plan will be filed concurrently with a land development plan creating the separate lots for the center, the commercial lots and the single-family home.

Beyond the creation of the center and supporting facilities, they began looking at realistic uses for the remainder of the land, Torretti said. The Planned Airport District allows for multi-family housing, so a proposal for 12 duplex buildings — a total of 24 dwelling units — could be built.

Further along, in the areas of most visibility, a hotel and sit-down restaurant are still the most likely projects, he said. The area is also open for potential office use.

While the developers were initially looking to break ground by spring 2016, that date will likely be pushed to the summer, he said. The center is looking at a likely opening date of November 2017.

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Nittany Valley Sports Centre plan gets revamp."