College Township on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking more than $285,000 from a student housing developer accused of failing to meet conditions of its land development plan approval.
1275 State College PA Properties I K6 LLC, which is associated with developer Aspen Heights Partners, has not completed or paid for $271,371.66 in primarily transportation infrastructure costs related to the Aspen State College apartments at 350 Squirrel Drive, township solicitor Louis Glantz wrote in the complaint.
The township is also seeking $13,668 in attorney fees and $500 a day in penalties from Jan. 1, 2024 until payment is made, both of which are statutory obligations in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code, Glantz wrote.
The developer was required to pay for the improvements as part of its land development plan approval in 2021. They include:
• $100,000 toward the future addition of a right turn lane from Squirrel Drive onto East College Avenue;
• $75,000 toward a planned shared-use path adjacent to College Avenue from near Puddintown Road to the Penn State campus;
• $35,000 for grading work at the intersection of Squirrel Drive and College Avenue; and
• $59,531.66 for required paving that was completed last year by the township through a contractor.
Another $4,200 is required for the developer’s share of the workforce housing administration fee.
In a letter to Aspen Heights Partners and property manager Asset Living earlier this year that was included with the filing, Glantz wrote that the payments were “seriously overdue” and, if they were not received by Feb. 29, the township would “avail itself of all available legal remedies.”
Representatives of Aspen Heights Partners did not respond to a message seeking comment on Tuesday afternoon. No proceedings have been scheduled in the case.
Aspen Heights’ land development approval in May 2021 came after months of discussions, reviews and negotiated conditions. Construction began in the fall of 2021 and the complex opened in 2023.
The development on the former Hilltop Mobile Home Park site includes two four-story buildings with 262 apartments ranging from one- to five-bedroom units for a total of 651 beds.
It was one of two new student housing complexes Aspen Heights opened in the Centre Region in 2023. The other is the six-story Haus, 900 W. College Ave., which includes 96 apartments with a mix of two- and three-bedroom units for a total of 268 beds.
