A new McDonald’s is planned for Centre County, not far from the proposed Wawa

Halie Kines
·2 min read

Centre County Commissioners got a glance at the plan for a McDonald’s in an increasingly popular area of the Benner Pike.

The McDonald’s, a fast food chain, is planned for the Paradise Shopping Center, where the new Giant grocery store is, at the intersection of Paradise Road and the Benner Pike, in Benner Township.

The building size is proposed at 4,285 square feet; for comparison’s sake, the McDonald’s located off of South Atherton Street, State College is roughly 4,200 square feet, Chris Schnure, Centre County’s subdivision and land development planner, told the board during their meeting Thursday.

“It’s good to see that we’re seeing some more growth in the greater area of Bellefonte,” Centre County Commissioner Mark Higgins said. “I know the Benner Pike is a super busy road.”

Commissioner Amber Concepcion added this is a convenient location for a drive-thru.

The Paradise Shopping Center plan consists of five phases, Schnure told the board. The first three phases have already been approved, which included Giant, a retail facility and a restaurant. The McDonald’s is phase 5, located in the southern part of the Shoppes at Paradise, he said. There is still a fast food restaurant available at the northern part of the parcel, Schnure said, and phase 4 is earmarked for a coffee/restaurant shop.

The development — located at the intersection of Paradise Road and Benner Pike — includes a grocery store and fueling area, two fast-food restaurants, a coffee shop/fast-food restaurant and an office/medical building.
The development — located at the intersection of Paradise Road and Benner Pike — includes a grocery store and fueling area, two fast-food restaurants, a coffee shop/fast-food restaurant and an office/medical building.

The board approved adding a memorandum of understanding between the county, Benner Township and the developer onto next week’s consent agenda. The MOU is an agreement between the three parties that states the developer will agree to reimburse the township the costs associated with the township engineer processing, reviewing, inspecting and approving the engineering details of the plan. This action did not, and will not, approve the actual McDonald’s plan.

That area has been seeing a lot of development and plans, most recently being plans for Happy Valley’s first Wawa, proposed for between Dunkin’ and Fulton Bank along the Benner Pike. Other developments and plans in the township include the new Giant, a large residential development at the end of High Tech Road, a massive fulfillment center warehouse at the end of Penntech Drive and a four-story hotel at the corner of Benner Pike and Amberleigh Lane.