College Township eyes local impact study as construction nears for Nittany Mall casino
With the Nittany Mall’s Category 4 mini-casino now officially moving ahead following legal hold-ups, College Township is taking steps to prepare for its anticipated 2026 opening by initiating a casino impact study.
At last week’s College Township Council meeting, Assistant Township Manager Mike Bloom presented the council with a draft of a request for quote document for a casino impact study.
“The intent of the RFQ is to help College Township identify a consultant that has specific expertise and experience with the development of multi-faceted local impact reports for high-profile, potentially impactful, commercial entertainment land developments, ideally those pertaining to gaming in comparable community settings,” Bloom said.
The consultant(s) will help explore the local impacts of the casino, which College Township lacks the time, staffing and experience to do. The study would primarily include “socio-demographic information impacts,” according to Bloom.
These impacts include: demographic comparisons to communities that also house Category 4 casinos pre- and post- opening, mental health referrals by age group, incidents involving gambling problems or addiction and trend analysis of possible gambling-related issues such as bankruptcy, alcoholism, poverty, homelessness, domestic violence and human trafficking.
Other impacts that will be studied in the report include: local service impacts on police, fire and emergency medical services, traffic and transportation infrastructure needs, street maintenance, sanitation and sewer needs, land development, zoning and building permits, tourism, economic and fiscal impacts, one-time economic impacts from construction, estimated annual operating revenues and potential tax revenues generated by the casino.
College Township had planned to conduct a local impact report for the casino earlier, however, the report was put on hold — along with all casino plans — due to legal challenges. In July, a ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court cleared the way for the casino to move forward.
In addition to the township’s impact study, in 2021, casino operator SC Gaming hired Econsult Solutions, Inc. to conduct a local services and economic impact analysis, which showed that the casino would have a negligible impact on street maintenance, police services and the local road network, and that the township would see a “significant net positive” in tax revenues.
Bally’s announced last month that it dropped out of its nearly four-year partnership with Penn State alumnus Ira Lubert-owned SC Gaming for the casino, citing a shift in corporate strategy. SC Gaming has said the change does not affect plans to open the $120 million casino in the former Macy’s location, with construction slated to start in early 2025.
For years, supporters have hoped the casino will bring new life to the largely-vacant mall, revitalize the area and create jobs. Opponents have raised concerns about gambling addictions, a strain on first responders and more.
After Bloom presented the draft RFQ, council member Eric Bernier said he wanted to see more of an emphasis put on requiring studies to be done on the casino’s impacts both before and after its construction. He said the RFQ should also include more language about studying the impact that the casino will have on Penn State’s student body, given that many township residents expressed concerns for the area’s large student population.
Bernier and other council members also raised a concern about finding a consulting team that has experience working with a community that has a casino and a major university.
“It’ll be really difficult to find a comparable community with a category-four casino, particularly if we’re asking for information on a student population,” council member Susan Trainor said. “As far as I could tell from the casinos that I could find, none of (the surrounding communities) include a major university. So how do we overcome that obstacle when asking for qualifications?”
The council agreed that they will also want to look at consulting teams that have experience working with casinos outside of Pennsylvania, despite the potential differences in casino and student body size.
A “more-final” version of the RFQ draft will be presented to the council at a future College Township meeting for discussion and potential approval, according to Bloom.
Since last month, College Township also offered its meeting room to SC Gaming CEO Eric Pearson to host two, three-hour casino information sessions, where he provided residents the opportunity to ask him questions directly and talk with him one-on-one about their concerns.
The 24/7 nonsmoking casino is planned to have up to 750 slot machines, 30 table games, a sports betting area, a sports-themed restaurant and a bar.
College Township Council’s next meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7.