Prior to THE PANDEMIC, hopes had been that a new resort and parking garage would be opening along the Bellefonte Waterfront in 2021. The challenge has been delayed, but developers say “it is nonetheless likely to materialize, it is just a subject of time.”

BELLEFONTE — The a lot-predicted enhancement of the Bellefonte Waterfront, with strategies for a resort, parking garage and condominium have been delayed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Builders told The Centre County Gazette they hope to get issues relocating ahead again shortly, but might have to change gears a very little.

“It is surely still likely to take place, it is just a make a difference of timing,” mentioned Tom Songer III, business actual estate agent for the venture.

The team handling the task first introduced its plans in 2018 and formally closed on the previous Bush Residence home in December 2019.

Before the pandemic struck, options were to get started design in the spring or summer time of 2020, with hopes to open the resort and parking garage in the summer season of 2021, and the condominium in 2022. Then, matters stalled as the full world shut down past spring.

“We just type of slowed down the design approach, but my hope is that we can speed that up all over again quickly listed here, with the lifting of COVID constraints,” Songer instructed The Gazette.

With the recent uncertainty in the hospitality marketplace, the team may perhaps come to a decision to transform strategies and build the condominiums just before the resort, he explained.

“We were being heading to develop the hotel setting up and parking garage initially, and the condominium and business space constructing was likely to be the third project. But based on how rapidly the hospitality market comes again, if it is however slow to appear out of there and we just cannot get investors or loan companies to assistance us get the resort likely — for a lot of other good reasons, a good deal of folks just are not investing in hotels — so we have shifted our homes to the third developing and the parking garage,” reported Songer. “We are reconfiguring some of the flooring ideas to match in a lot more with what the current market is demanding at this position.”

Songer’s father, developer Tom Songer II, who is co-handling partner for Bellefonte Waterfront Enhancement, alongside with hotelier Mark Morath, explained commencing the over-all undertaking as the “renaissance of Bellefonte” all through a presentation in February 2020, just prior to the pandemic rocked the hospitality industry.

Designs for a 5-story boutique resort at Higher and Dunlap streets involve somewhere around 80 visitor rooms, along with meeting and banquet rooms and a cafe. A 300-area parking structure with 20,000 square ft of commercial and retail space is planned future to the lodge.

On the other facet of the parking structure is a planned, five-story creating with around 14,700 square ft of places of work and/or retail place. Earlier mentioned the floor ground, there will be four floors of household a person- and two-bedroom condominium residences.

Inspite of this shifting of gears, Songer III stated he is hopeful the hospitality sector will come back potent as a lot more of the place is vaccinated.

“As a commercial actual estate person, I’ll tell you, the hospitality industry, at the time these vaccines get rolled out, if (President) Biden can hit his stop of May perhaps timeline to get most men and women vaccinated, I definitely assume the hospitality market will bounce back,” claimed Songer. He thinks the lodge will serve a will need in Bellefonte.

“People want to arrive to Bellefonte, they want to be in this article and invested time in this article, then they close up going to Condition College or university to continue to be in a lodge or remain overnight,” he stated. “I am hopeful that we will see some renewed electricity into lending and buyers to construct and acquire all those new hospitality projects. If that is the situation, we are rather substantially ready to go. I am not indicating it is heading to occur, but the hope would be to get begun this summer season on the lodge and the parking garage. The hope is by following summer time, certainly by the conclude of summertime if not right before, to have people going to the resort in 2022.”

Both way, he explained the local community can anticipate some thing to occur shortly on the assets.

“We genuinely want to get some thing shifting right here,” he explained.

In 2019, the team was awarded a $2 million grant from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Aid Funds Application for the parking garage, alongside with some other point out funding.

“We definitely want to put that cash to use and get this undertaking going. As soon as it receives heading, I believe people today will say, ‘Hey, this issue has obtained some legs” reported Songer. “I think after points get a very little more back again to typical listed here, late spring or early summer season, I believe you are going to start off to listen to a great deal a lot more about what our designs are once we know what they are.”