A local framing business is moving to downtown Bellefonte after 50 years in State College.
The Frame Factory & Gallery will close its 426 Westerly Parkway shop at the end of July and open at 137 W. High St. in late August or early September, owner Bill Ebken said. The former tenant of the High Street storefront, Bellefonte Print Shop, moved to 101A N. Allegheny Street in June.
Ebken’s longtime shop in State College is the last remaining business in the older buildings on the east side of the Westerly Parkway Plaza. The New York-based real estate group that owns the property informed Ebken early this year that he would need to be out by the end of August because they plan to demolish the two buildings in that section of the shopping center in late 2024 or early 2025, he told StateCollege.com this week.
The news didn’t come as a surprise to Ebken, who said the owners have been telling him for 10 years that they planned to raze those building, and he had already been looking for a new location.
A real estate agent for the property said in 2020 that the owners planned to tear down the two buildings and construct a mixed-use development for student housing and commercial space. (The west side of the plaza with Weis Markets, the future Crunch Fitness and other businesses, is not part of the plan.)
A 2019 income statement to members of the property’s investment group, State College Joint Venture, said that “a best-in-class student housing developer” had been selected for the project, which would involve the space where the two commercial buildings are currently located and a 3-acre parcel on Waupelani Drive. A 2021 statement, however, said the developer had backed out because of COVID-19 impacts, but that they may be interested in the future and other partnerships were being explored.
State College Borough’s planning director did not respond to a request for comment about any forthcoming plans for the property.
Ebken, meanwhile, had been looking for a new location in State College but found rental rates much too high at about $4,000 a month, he said.
“I think the problem is going to be here, with the rents going up as much as they are, that a lot of the small businesses just can’t afford to be here,” Ebken said. “That’s what’s happening. We’re going to have a lot of national companies coming in.”
One of his client’s, Bellefonte Mayor Buddy Johnson, encouraged him to look for space in the county seat, and another client let Ebken know when the High Street location became available for lease.
“Bellefonte is up and coming,” Ebken said. “It’s a cool town. The [Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County] is there. There’s a lot of new businesses coming in. There’s some nice restaurants there… It seems to be a lot of younger people are moving there because it’s more affordable, too.”
The new space is “just slightly smaller” than the Westerly Parkway location, but the back work space is larger and the front is a bit wider.
“It’s going to work out in a lot of ways a lot better,” Ebken said. “It’s just a little bit less square footage. I’m embracing it. I think it will be more efficient with the back end where we do all our work. I’m looking forward to resetting and I think it’s going to work really well there.”
Coming from a location with a large parking lot out front, Ebken was a bit concerned about parking at the Bellefonte shop. But, he said, the new shop has a back door and small parking area where customers can pull in to pick up larger items.
The Frame Factory will continue to offer all the same services, including custom and commercial framing and photo services, and Ebken also hopes to display more art for sale on the showroom walls.
Customers, he said, have been supportive of the move.
“A lot of positive response there, including people offering to help,” Ebken said. “My clients have offered to help move. That’s really cool. I have a great clientele here, very loyal.”
