There are more delays for a long-awaited development project in downtown Bellefonte and now there are concerns about the funding available to complete the project.
It’s been five years now since plans were first announced for the Bellefonte Waterfront Project, which would include a hotel, offices and a parking garage on vacant land near Spring Creek.
There has been a series of dates announced to start the project, but more and more delays have continually pushed back its start date.
“At this point, what we’re hearing is that the earliest that it would start is the spring of 2024.”
The developer says the delays are due to inflation and construction material supply chain issues.
But are the delays also going to impact financial resources?
“He does have grants, state grants involved, that have timelines associated with them. Our concern is he’ll lose some of those opportunities, or he may have already lost some of those if he doesn’t get started soon.”
And there’s been questions raised about other hotel projects targeted for the Benner Pike area, which is located just a few miles away.
But Bellefonte borough officials aren’t concerned.
“We believe in clustering. Any kind of industry that uses clustering, you look at Lowe’s and Home Depot, they’re close to each other. We see the more that happens in Bellefonte, our area is better.”
Borough officials say while they’d like to see the waterfront project move forward, with the potential that it could spur other economic development for Bellefonte, they realize the final decision is up to the developer who owns the property.
