Planning for a development that will include a hotel and other commercial properties along Shiloh Road in College Township took a step forward on Thursday night.
College Township Council unanimously approved a phase 1 subdivision plan for the commercial development near the intersection of Shiloh and East Trout roads, next to Maxwell Truck and Equipment.
The plan subdivides two properties owned by Ed Maxwell into three lots for development. Lots 1 and 2 fronting Shiloh Road are 1.32 and 1.348 acres, respectively, and Lot 3 behind those is 3.096 acres. A second phase is expected to create four more commercial lots ranging from 1.6 to 5.4 acres further back on the property, according to a sketch plan review in 2023.
The sketch plan revealed that a hotel would be constructed on Lot 3 in phase 1. State College-based hotelier Hospitality Asset Management Company recently confirmed it will be developing a 115-room Home2 Suites by Hilton on the property.
Land development plans for each of the lots will require separate approval. A preliminary/final land development plan for the hotel — which is one of at least eight in some stage of planning or construction in Centre County — was submitted to the township on Monday and is currently under review.
Potential tenants for other lots have not been identified. Maxwell said last year that “there’s been some interest,” but nothing had been finalized.
East Trout Road — which is currently a private drive for access to the Maxwell offices and a home — will be extended and widened to become a public road providing access to the subdivided commercial lots. A new shared access drive off of East Trout Road will provide vehicle entry to the rear of the three lots fronting Shiloh Road and to the hotel’s porte-cochère. Secondary access to the hotel, which will have 129 parking spaces, will be from East Trout Road, which will be extended to reach each of the proposed commercial lots.
Maxwell Truck’s offices at the corner of Shiloh and East Trout roads will remain. A house and barn on the property will remain until the completion of East Trout Road.
East Trout Road will continue to the property line for a possible connection to the neighboring Clair farm, which is also zoned commercial and may be developed in the future.
Sidewalks will be constructed along Shiloh Road, East Trout Road and the shared access drive between the new lots as a requirement of the subdivision plan.
A traffic impact study found the development triggers the need for a traffic signal at the intersection of Shiloh and Trout roads, as well as a right-turn and left-turn deceleration lanes on Shiloh at the intersection.
With the Dale Summit area expected to see further development, however, PennDOT has been conducting an analysis of traffic infrastructure needs on the Shiloh Road corridor. The Maxwell development may be granted an 18-month deferral on the traffic improvement requirements if they are going to be installed as part of a larger PennDOT-coordinated upgrade project along the corridor, Lindsay Schoch, township principal planner, said.
“This is complicated, as you all know,” council member Eric Bernier said. “This is one piece of a lot of stuff that’s going to go on out there.”
John Sepp, of project engineer PennTerra, said the developers are prepared to put in the traffic signal and turn lanes if there is no movement by PennDOT.
