State College’s Council denies developer request to close downtown street for 2 years. Here’s why
State College Borough Council showed little sympathy for the pocketbook of a Chicago-based developer Monday night, refusing a request to fully close a downtown street for about two years to aid in construction of a 12-story high rise.
Massaro Construction Group, which is contracted with real-estate company Core Spaces, acknowledged the future luxury apartment building in the 400 block of East College Avenue could be built without the Hetzel Street closure, from Calder Way to East College, but that would serve as a “substantial” increase to their construction time and costs. Most council members didn’t seem to mind that.
The borough council voted 4-2 — Councilwoman Theresa Lafer was absent — to reject the request. Core Spaces can still bring a modified request to council in the future, potentially asking for a shorter or partial closure instead.
“I’m glad that you’ve indicated the building can be built without closing the street,” Mayor Ron Filippelli said. “My guess is — I can’t speak for all of the citizens of State College, but I bet I can speak for most of the citizens of the East Highlands — they would like the building built that way.”
It’s not uncommon for Council to approve street closures during construction. Borough Manager Tom Fountaine pointed out that Hetzel Street was previously entirely closed for at least 18 months for The Legacy at State College apartment building. Fraser Street was also closed for the creation of the Fraser Centre, a mixed-use facility that houses Target. And, earlier Monday, Council approved the temporary closure of the 100 block of Burrowes Street for a university-related project — although that was slated to take less than three full weeks, from July 19 to Aug. 6.
But given past frustrations, the fact Hetzel acts as a main thoroughfare for those in the East Highlands and the point such construction could be done without closures, Council and the mayor pushed back on the request — with one memorable exchange.
“Why can’t you build a building without taking a street out for two years? ... Is it because it costs more?” Filippelli asked.
“It’s cost-prohibitive,” replied borough consultant Andy Arnold, a civil engineer who works for GD&F Engineers.
Said Filippelli: “OK, well, you’re saying it’s cost-prohibitive to the developer. OK, so to hell with the neighborhood — that’s essentially what you’re saying. You could build the building without closing the street, right?”
“Yes, it can be done,” Arnold acknowledged. Filipelli then added, “Yeah, thank you.”
Core Spaces anticipated demolition to start around Sept. 30 of this year, with construction beginning around the New Year and continuing through October or November 2023. Hetzel would have been closed only during construction, and one lane would’ve likely remained open during “special events” such as home football games and graduation. There would have also been a partial sidewalk closure, with pedestrians diverted to the east side of the street.
The pending construction is also expected to impact Calder Way and East College Avenue, although no traffic pattern changes were anticipated. On Calder Way, under the rejected proposal, pedestrian travel would have been limited to the south side while, on East College Avenue, a covered lit walkway would’ve been installed adjacent to the worksite with five parking spaces closed.
“We could certainly build it without closing Hetzel, but it would cause the schedule to be much longer than if we were provided access to that side of the building,” said Michael Clements, project manager at Massaro Construction Group, which works for Core Spaces. “Without that, it’s just more time consuming. And, yes, there is a cost aspect to it. But the length of time it would take to build this without this closure would be substantial.
“So, while we will be impacting traffic while we’re there, we feel like we will minimize the duration at which we will physically be there doing this.”
Borough staff recommended the closure, and both Janet Engeman and Evan Myers voted in favor of it. Those opposed were Jesse Barlow, Deanna Behring, Peter Marshall and Katherine Yeaple.
Core Spaces submitted its land-development plan in November 2019. In that plan, the apartment building would consist of two floors of commercial space and 135 residential units with a mixture of one, two, four and five bedrooms.
The housing is geared toward Penn State students, although Core Spaces believes the building would also appeal to professionals. Leases will be offered by the bed, and not the unit.
