A national fast-food chain might be returning to Centre County more than a decade after its last location here closed.
An Arby’s restaurant at 116 Paradise Road in Benner Township is in the planning stages, township and county officials told StateCollege.com on Thursday.
The fast-casual restaurant, best known for its roast beef sandwiches and Ving Rhames-voiced commercials, would be located directly across from the new McDonald’s nearing completion at the Paradise Shopping Center on Benner Pike. An unoccupied two-story house on the property would be demolished to make way for the sandwich shop, township Secretary Sharon Royer said.
The property previously belonged to Rockview state prison before the commonwealth sold it in 2022 to the county Industrial Development Authority, which then sold it to a private LLC.
A land development plan for the potential Arby’s has not yet been submitted, said Christopher Schnure, subdivision and land development planner in the Centre County Planning and Community Development Office.
“This office, along with the engineering firm and developer of the Arby’s and representatives from Benner Township and PennDOT, had a discussion about the customary topics related to most developments such as: zoning, stormwater management, sewage planning, traffic, erosion and sedimentation pollution control, etc.,” Schnure wrote in an email.
A traffic impact study for the development has been conducted, according to a township board of supervisors agenda.
A project engineer working on the Arby’s plans did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The most recent Arby’s location in Centre County was at the corner of West College Avenue and South Atherton Street in State College, where The Metropolitan high-rise now stands. It closed in August 2011 after more than four decades in business.
Arby’s closest current locations to Centre County are in Clinton and Mifflin counties.
The potential for another new fast-food restaurant is indicative of the ongoing commercial boom along the Benner Pike corridor.
Across Paradise Road, in the Paradise Shopping Center, McDonald’s will join Giant supermarket, which opened in December 2022. (Real estate company ExchangeRight recently acquired the net-leased Giant property from original developer Land of Paradise LLC for $10.1 million. The supermarket will not be affected by the change in property ownership.)
The shopping center has at least one more open pad for a retail or restaurant use.
Further north on Benner Pike, convenience store chain Wawa has submitted plans for one of its first Centre County locations near the Eagle Point intersection, directly across from rival Sheetz. Rutter’s convenience store and Dunkin‘ also have opened along Benner Pike in the last five years.
Two hotel developments are also expected to begin construction soon, Royer said.
A 98-room Tru by Hilton hotel, along with a 12,000-square-foot retail building, is planned for Benner Pike across from Bellefonte Lanes.
Along Amberleigh Lane near Benner Pike, a four-story 107-room hotel first introduced in 2022 is also poised to begin construction soon. While the name of the hotel had not been previously announced, project bidding information published online last fall identifies it as a dual brand Avid Hotel and Candlewood Suites.
Also in the Benner Pike corridor, plans for a fulfillment center warehouse at Benner Commerce Park remain active, albeit at a much smaller scale than originally proposed.
