Business continues to boom along Benner Pike corridor near Bellefonte.
State College-based hotelier Hospitality Asset Management Company is planning to develop a Tru by Hilton hotel not far from the Benner Pike interchange of I-99 in Benner Township, the company announced on Thursday.
The 98-room hotel would be located on a currently unaddressed lot across the road from the Paradise Shopping Center where the new Giant Food Stores opened in December, HAMCO Chief Operating Officer Edward Tubbs told StateCollege.com.
“We continue to be proud of our company’s growth and are excited to increase our portfolio footprint in our home region of Centre County,” Tubbs said in a statement. “The local communities have been very supportive and welcoming for us to have a larger presence in the region.”
Hilton debuted Tru in 2016 as an affordable hotel brand and today it has more than 250 franchise locations. The Benner Pike hotel would have “complimentary breakfast, active lobby spaces and an expanded fitness center,” according to HAMCO.
If all goes well, construction would begin in the spring of 2024 with hopes of opening in the second quarter of 2025, Tubbs said.
Tubbs cited the expansion of I-99 with the upcoming high-speed interchange at Bellefonte as well as the growth of business development along the Benner Pike corridor as reasons for the new hotel’s location.
In addition to the new Giant, McDonald’s has submitted plan for a new location at the Paradise Shopping Center, which has at least one other pad available for development. Convenience store chain Wawa also recently revealed plans to build its first Centre County location on Benner Pike, near Dunkin’ and across from Sheetz.
Planning also continues to move forward for a massive “fulfillment center warehouse” for a yet-to-be named business on Penn Tech Drive in the Benner Commerce Park.
At the Amberleigh Lane and Benner Pike intersection, property owner SAI 21 LLC submitted plans last year for an unnamed, 107-room hotel. The developer requested a time extension for that land development plan in April.
In downtown Bellefonte, HAMCO continues to work with developer Tom Songer on a hotel as part of the long-awaited Waterfront Project. Tubbs said they currently are doing a slight redesign of the plans to meet specifications for the hotel brand selected for the site, which he said he could not yet publicly reveal. The developers hope to begin construction by next spring.
“We are equally proud of our development at the Bellefonte Waterfront in conjunction with our partner Tom Songer, and we remain committed to further expansion in the Bellefonte/State College marketplace,” Tubbs said.
HAMCO, also known as Lion Country Lodging, operates four other hotels in the State College area, including Hilton Garden Inn, as well as multiple properties around the state. Most recently, the company converted the Quality Inn on North Atherton Street to a Days Inn.
The Benner Pike hotel is the second new Hilton in the planning for Centre County. Developer Highland Holding Group plans to build a Canopy by Hilton hotel as part of the State College Town Centre project on the 200 block of South Allen Street.
