‘It’s time.’ Developer aims to start Bellefonte Waterfront Project in 2026

The developer of the long-awaited Bellefonte Waterfront Project told Bellefonte Borough Council Monday that he hopes to put the project out for bid next month, following years of delays.

The council heard an update on the hotel/condo/parking garage project during Monday’s meeting, after plans were approved in June. Those plans show two buildings to be constructed in the grassy parcel of land above the Spring Creek, between West Lamb and West High streets. Originally, three buildings were proposed, but revisions to that plan were approved by the council in March.

According to project developer Tom Songer, the two buildings will be built simultaneously. The first building will be a 268-space parking garage, complete with 48 condominium units atop the garage and around 33,000 square feet of commercial space. The second building will be a six-story, 93-room, nationally-branded boutique hotel, complete with a farm-to-table restaurant and a rooftop lounge, and will connect to the parking garage via a brick promenade.

“We haven’t been sitting around doing nothing — we’ve actually improved the project a great deal, but it’s taken quite a while to pull this all together,” Songer said. “We’re very hopeful, and I’m doing my best to get this thing launched this year. It’s time. ... It’s a big undertaking, but we think when it’s completed, it’s definitely going to be an asset to the greater community.”

In the plans, a small, uncovered parking lot will be constructed next to the parking garage, and a brick walking path that cuts through the grassy area will be converted into the two-way Dunlop Street. There’s one final hitch related to that street that must be taken care of before any construction can begin, Songer said.

The approval of the project’s plans came with a few conditions, including one that would see the borough vacate the portions of Dunlop Street it owns so that the street can be constructed and maintained in its entirety by the Bellefonte Waterfront Associates. The way that agreement will be executed is currently in the works.

“The easiest way to proceed is for the borough to vacate the two ends of Dunlop Street that the borough owns to the adjoining property owners, and then those property owners, in turn, would grant an easement to Bellefonte Waterfront Associates to own and maintain Dunlop Street, with the caveat being that Bellefonte Waterfront Associates pays for all costs to construct the street and all costs relative to maintaining it in the future,” Songer said Monday.

There are three business that own property along the ends of Dunlop Street. When those businesses agree to the proposal, the borough will vacate their owned portions of the street and the proposal will move forward.

If everything goes smoothly, Songer hopes that he’ll be able to send the project out for bid in January, for an expected completion date around July 2027. The condominiums will be marketed when the parking garage’s construction begins, with the condominiums’ construction starting immediately after the garage is finished.

“It sounds too good to be true,” said Councilman Doug Johnson, who’s served on the council for 15 years, and has seen the challenges that the project has faced since its start.

At one point, the borough was optimistic that the first phase of construction would begin in spring 2019. Then it was 2020, at least until the coronavirus pandemic unfolded. As time passed, the developers were also hopeful it would begin in summer 2022 or spring 2024, but state funding issues led to further delays.

Fast-forward to today, and aside from the Dunlop Street agreement, the last remaining hurdle to clear is for the developer to secure the funding for the construction of the parking garage — a process that’s been made “quite challenging” with rising material costs and high interest rates, Songer said.

Now, Songer believes that a financing plan for the garage is “looking very promising,” and no issues are anticipated with financing for the hotel portion of the project.

Council hears update on the Stage at Talleyrand

In addition to the waterfront project, the borough council also heard updates Monday on the Stage at Talleyrand project from Michael Pratt, the director of Keller Engineers’ State College office.

According to Pratt, the 2,000-square-foot outdoor performance venue — which is to be located in the Talleyrand Park annex behind Pelican’s Snoballs — is finished with its conceptual phase, and official land development plans are expected to be submitted to the borough following a brief design review in January.

Along with the stage, two new walking paths will be built, and Talleyrand Park’s small municipal parking lot near Pelican’s will be completely reconstructed. Parking will also be offered in the large municipal lot near CVS and along the roads that offer street parking near the park, and a plan for additional parking is in the works too, if needed.

“We’ve also had some conversations with Mr. Pratt and the folks at the Stage at Talleyrand committee about perhaps having a conversation with the [American] Philatelic Society about shared parking arrangements to provide some additional off-street parking for events that may exhaust the capacity of clustered parking on site,” said Dave Pribulka, the borough’s interim manager.

No timeline for the overall completion of the stage was shared Monday though, and more information about the project can be found at www.stageattalleyrand.com.

This story was originally published December 16, 2025 at 5:13 PM.