This story has been updated with comments from CBICC President and CEO Greg Scott.
Plans for a massive fulfillment center warehouse at Benner Commerce Park are back on the table.
Developer SunCap Property Group has resubmitted a land development plan for the 1-million-square-foot “fulfillment center warehouse” on a 103-acre site along Penntech Drive in Benner Township, according to Centre County and township officials
Township secretary and treasurer Sharon Royer said the plans appear to be unchanged from the original submission, which was withdrawn in April. No reason was given for the withdrawal at the time.
SunCap Property Group is “not able to provide any comment at this time,” senior vice president Matthew Virgin wrote in an email to StateCollege.com on Thursday.
Christopher Schnure, Centre County subdivision and land development planner, said his office received the resubmitted plan in July and that it is “almost identical” to the one withdrawn earlier this year.
The original plan was estimated to create 700 jobs, but the company behind the warehouse was not revealed. During a presentation at a Centre County Board of Commissioners meeting in April, SunCap Property Group representatives said they were bound by a nondisclosure agreement and could not identify the end user.
“Essentially all that we know at this time is that it is a warehouse for e-commerce,” Commissioner Michael Pipe said at the time.
The warehouse would employ 370 workers on day shift and 313 on night shift, as well as seasonal employees, Schnure said at the April meeting. Plans for the warehouse showed 900 parking spaces on the west side of the building and 70 to 80 tractor-trailer bays on the east and south sides.
Primary access to the building would be from Venture Drive. A traffic impact study identified “very minimal improvements” needed to manage traffic flow because of the proximity to the Interstate 99 interchange, Schnure said in April. A traffic signal would be installed at Penntech Drive and Benner Pike, which the commerce park had long planned.
Greg Scott, president and CEO of the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, said on Friday that the project would be “a game-changer” and the largest in the county in more than 50 years.
“This project is exactly what the CBICC and Centre County leaders envisioned with the creation of Benner Commerce Park 10 years ago, and we are now about to reap the benefits of that vision,” Scott said in a statement. “This project is what the park was invented for.”
Prior to the withdrawal of the plan in April, Centre County Commissioner Steve Dershem said he had some concerns about not knowing what business would be operating such a large-scale facility.
Nittany Valley Environmental Coalition and the Sierra Group Moshannon Club also raised concerns about the environmental impact of the site’s large amount of impervious surface on the wild trout waters of nearby Logan Branch and the the township’s karst aquifers, springs and water supplies.
The organizations did not oppose the development, but a Benner Township resident, speaking on behalf of both groups at a commissioners meeting, said they wanted to see the developer utilize “green infrastructure” for stormwater management, as well as a retention system to ensure vehicle fluids did not seep into the groundwater.
Scott, meanwhile, said the project and others like it would bring “economic diversification and revitalization” with far-reaching benefits, including new customers for other business, new tax dollars to support school districts and job opportunities.
“As a Centre County native, I know firsthand the impact a facility of this magnitude will have on our shared communities,” Scott said. “Every time we locate or expand a facility or project in our county, we are improving lives and creating the opportunity for future generations to benefit from that success.
“The high-paying jobs this project provides will allow our families and friends to stay in the place they love and make a great life for themselves or their own families.”
The resubmitted project was on the agenda for Thursday night’s Benner Township Planning Commission only as part of an update on future land development plans that will come before the commission. A formal presentation and vote on a recommendation will come at a later date, Royer said.
The Centre County Planning Commission will review the plans at its Aug. 16 meeting, according to Schnure.
