Plans for hotel, retail building along Benner Pike moving forward. Here’s what to know

A new hotel on the Benner Pike is moving forward after the Centre County Planning Commission gave approval Tuesday to a final land development plan.

The plans for the Tru by Hilton hotel and retail building were first announced in June by Hospitality Asset Management Company, which operates other local hotels including The Hilton Garden Inn, Super 8 by Wyndham, Quality Inn and Nittany Budget Motel. The new addition would be built directly across from the Bellefonte Lanes on Benner Pike.

The Tru by Hilton would have 98 rooms and a 113-car parking lot and the retail building would be 12,000 square feet, with five units available for lease. The drive leading into the planned buildings will be a 28-foot-wide roadway.

The plans include a sidewalk that stretches down from the left side of the drive from the hotel, down to the retail building, eventually reaching the existing sidewalk along Benner Pike.

Chris Schnure, Subdivision and Land Development Planner for Centre County, also explained at the Tuesday meeting that in the future, two easements will be built on the left and right sides of the drive so that the hotel and the retail building can be connected with the Benner Pike Sheetz and any other potential developments that happen on the property to the right of this one.

“The property to the right of this one is owned by the Stuckeys and all I can say is that I know it’s going to be developed — I’m not sure when, but in the future, it’s going to be,” Schnure said. “So, whenever it does eventually get developed into something, this extension on the right side of the drive will serve as a connector for the Tru hotel and retail building to the future business or businesses that develop there.”

There were also talks of a traffic light being installed at the intersection, but Schnure said that a traffic study determined that a light wouldn’t be necessary.

“If you’re trying to get onto Benner Pike from that drive, you might be waiting a couple of extra seconds but that isn’t enough for a light,” Schnure said.

Now that the initial plans have been approved, the developers are going to start working on the hotel design to determine how many stories it’s going to need to fit all 98 rooms.

There was no update given about the what the timeline of the project will look like after the hotel design is finished.

When the Centre County Commissioners heard about the plans late last year and approved a Memorandum of Understanding, they were enthusiastic about the project, with commissioner Amber Conception saying she’s sure that families visiting Penn State will “appreciate having another option,” for lodging.

Along with the Tru hotel and retail building, there is also a Wawa planned for Benner Pike, a new McDonald’s, located adjacent to Giant, and several other projects planned in the area in the coming years.