I was visiting State College a few weeks back, and noticed quite a change downtown from when I went to school there. I checked online and found a couple of big projects which are underway. I decided to put the info here instead of General Development because I'm not sure how often I'll be updating. So here goes.
I was in State College this weekend, but I was unable to snap any photos. The tower crane is still up at the Fraser, but there appeared to be a good amount of activity on site. The Metropolitan in stark contrast appears to still be below grade. Any ideas on why progress has essentially stalled or any updates on the project? The last news update on the website was back in May of 2015 and the construction photo on their homepage has not been updated in over a year.
I was in State College this weekend, but I was unable to snap any photos. The tower crane is still up at the Fraser, but there appeared to be a good amount of activity on site. The Metropolitan in stark contrast appears to still be below grade. Any ideas on why progress has essentially stalled or any updates on the project? The last news update on the website was back in May of 2015 and the construction photo on their homepage has not been updated in over a year.
I found this from June 2015. Not sure what exactly is causing the delay.
Well at this rate, the residents of State College might have to wait another decade before this thing is completed.
It would be nice to see more of these dense mixed use projects in State College. From a design standpoint both the Fraser and Metropolitan are solid projects. At the very least, they are significant improvements from the decades of low slung commie boxes that have been churned out for student apartments.
Well at this rate, the residents of State College might have to wait another decade before this thing is completed.
It would be nice to see more of these dense mixed use projects in State College. From a design standpoint both the Fraser and Metropolitan are solid projects. At the very least, they are significant improvements from the decades of low slung commie boxes that have been churned out for student apartments.
I agree. The downtown being so close to the campus definitely helps State College.
I was in State College yesterday and drove by the Metropolitan site (sorry no pics). There were workers on site, looks like they have started the the concrete towers (elevators/stairwells). They are a floor or two above ground from what I could see.
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Those windows on Beaver have been boarded up since I started school 3 years ago - so I wouldn't be too optimistic that some sort of renovation will be underway any time soon.
As for the public lot on Garner, I noticed that sign a couple weeks ago and it piqued my interest, but I have not been able to find any information on that sale anywhere. The Downtown Masterplan (a good read) slated that site for new development so it would appear that the borough is dedicated to selling it at some point, but I cannot find any municipal documentation to the effect that they are moving forward other than that sign. It is a primo site though and I hope something get built. With the state of affairs in the real estate market in the immediate vicinity of the university (essentially 100% occupancy) it would seem like it would be almost impossible not to make money building student apartments - something that are desperately needed as the university keeps admitting more students and not really expanding dorm options. Students are only willing to live so far away and we are pushing that limit already.
The same thing is going on in Ithaca, but there's a lot of Nimby locals, and developers have to jump through bureaucratic hoops to get projects into the slow moving approval process.
I've glanced through the Master Plan. Looks good to me, especially the area west of Atherton.
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Get off my lawn you whippersnappers!!!!!