New projects in the works on Benner Pike as it grows into ‘major artery’

Centre County Commissioners heard early plans Tuesday for new developments including a housing complex, commercial buildings and fast-food restaurants in Benner Township, an area that has seen a flurry of activity in the past decade.

At their Tuesday meeting, the Centre County Commissioners unanimously approved three memoranda of understanding for three separate projects in Benner Township, each with a different purpose.

The three MOUs were for a 7,000-square-foot warehouse and storage center near the State College Regional Airport, subdivisions for a new housing complex along Buffalo Run Road and subdivisions on a piece of land owned by the Stuckey and Poole families along the Benner Pike to make room for two motor vehicle sales and service buildings, two commercial businesses and two fast-food restaurants.

An MOU is an agreement between two or more parties defining their intentions to work together. In these cases, the agreements are between the county, the township’s engineer and the projects’ developers, where the county will ensure that the initial transaction reimbursements from the developers to the engineer are carried out correctly.

Since 2020, Benner Township has seen a boom in new businesses, with 10 chains having already built or submitted plans for locations along the Benner Pike alone.

“I think that a lot of the growth that we’re seeing has us kind of realizing that we now have a major artery between State College and Bellefonte, which has the capability of accepting a lot of business,” Commissioner Steve Dershem said. “We’re seeing a lot of residential growth in the Benner Township area too and I think it fits hand-and-glove to what the future of Centre County and that area is going to look like.”

Commissioners Mark Higgins and Amber Concepcion agreed and each lauded the area’s growth. Regardless of what businesses open in the new “artery,” all projects will be carried out with a special focus on public safety, Higgins said, calling the Benner Pike now the “fourth or fifth busiest road in Centre County.”

“Obviously these [projects] are all done with an eye toward proper drainage, proper provision of emergency services — so that fire trucks can get in and out — and then the additional zoning requirements from Benner Township,” Higgins said.

Details on the developments

While the commissioners approved the three projects’ MOUs, no official development plans have been approved, so timelines remain unknown, but some details were shared at Tuesday’s meeting.

The warehouse, which will be located at the former site of Handy Delivery in the Airport Park development along High Tech Road, is being developed by Continental Real Estate on behalf of Burrowes Street LLC.

According to Chris Schnure, the county’s subdivision and land development planner, the 7,000-square-foot building will be used to store construction materials from project remodels, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment.

The first subdivision is for a new housing complex along Buffalo Run Road, just before the Benner/Patton Township line. It’s being carried out by Foxlane Homes, a Philadelphia-based housing developer specializing in luxury home complexes.

The near 45-acre property will be subdivided into 50 lots for single family homes with corresponding infrastructure, including public streets, public water, public sewer and stormwater management control. Access to the complex will be through a township-owned road called Fox Run Boulevard.

“Stormwater management, at least initially, is going to be located in the northern corner as well as the lower two thirds [of the complex], but the engineer is going to be fine-tuning the stormwater management, so there will likely be changes to this proposal,” Schnure said.

And along Benner Pike, directly across from the Paradise Shopping Center and between G. M. McCrossin and the Centre County Correctional Facility, another large lot jointly owned by the Stuckey and Poole families is going to be subdivided into two smaller, commercial lots.

On the first of the two lots, which will be closer to the G. M. McCrossin building, a motor vehicle sales and service building is going to be built, although it wasn’t shared what brand of motor vehicles would be sold. The second lot, which will be closer to the correctional facility, will house two fast-food chains and two retail businesses.

According to Schnure, no businesses have submitted any official plans for the lots, and so far, none have indicated any intent on submitting plans.

Access to the lot will be through the traffic light at the intersection of Benner Pike and the road leading into Paradise Shopping Plaza.

Recent developments in the township

While these new projects are expected to alter Benner Township’s landscape in years to come, there are some businesses that have already built locations in the growing area, and there are others who are in the midst of staking their claims.

Since 2020, when Rutter’s opened its doors along Benner Pike, nine other chains have also headed to the busy corridor.

Just two years after Rutter’s opened, Giant made a home in the Paradise Shopping Center, and was joined by a McDonald’s last July. Plans were also submitted for the county’s first Arby’s location in over a decade, which will be located directly across Paradise Road from the McDonald’s.

Two new hotel chains are also being constructed along the Benner Pike — an IHG Hotels and Resorts dual-brand hotel and a Tru Hotel by Hilton.

A Wawa, an Amazon fulfillment center and a Chipotle are in the works as well.

To cap it all off, the Meadows — a Duncansville-based frozen custard chain — opened its doors along the Benner Pike in March.