By Adrienne Ott
On Monday, October 7, 2024, the State College Borough Council approved a $1.5 million construction loan for the State College Borough Redevelopment Authority’s adaptive reuse project of a former fraternity building in the Highlands neighborhood. Located at the corner of Nittany Avenue and Pugh Street, this project will include the conversion of the fraternity’s 1st and 2nd floors into a commercial tenant space for Centre Helps, a non-profit crisis prevention and affordable housing services resource center. Centre Helps is planning to move into the building early next year in 2025 when construction renovations finish, and their current lease expires.
After construction completion, the Redevelopment Authority plans to construct 3 ADA accessible affordable housing units on the fraternity’s remaining 3rd floor, and 1 ADA accessible affordable housing unit on the 1st floor. The commercial renovation project, totaling $3.2 million to-date, will provide an excellent resource to the Highlands and surrounding community neighborhoods.
The century-old Georgian-style fraternity building, once home to the Nu Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity (AXE) was built in 1923 with a stone façade. It was originally designed with 15 bedrooms which were later renovated in 1999 to 19 bedrooms with infrastructure upgrades. In 2021, the Redevelopment Authority purchased the former fraternity property with the goal of increasing the supply of affordable housing in Downtown State College.
As one of twenty-four contributing historic fraternity structures in the Holmes-Foster/Highlands National Register Historic District, the project received a Certificate of Appropriateness to start construction after gaining a recommendation from the Historic and Architectural Review Board and approval from Borough Council. On the exterior, the approved project includes the addition of a new rear facing stone façade dormer to service a new elevator, as well as new site work with the addition of handicap accessible parking.
This project is another example of the many benefits that an adaptive reuse project can bring to the Highlands community. With the support of the Redevelopment Authority and the Borough of State College, this project is proving to be another solution to boosting the local economy by activating a vacant and underutilized building while preserving an attractive place to live, work and visit. In addition, the historic restoration and preservation of the building not only helps to create a sense of culture while connecting us to the past; it also significantly reduces energy consumption typically associated with new construction projects.
As a sustainable path moving forward, I am eager to continue supporting the Redevelopment Authority with future adaptive reuse projects in the Highlands neighborhood and the Borough at large. I am grateful for the opportunity to assist the RDA Board with this 406 S Pugh St project as they continue to invest in our local community and provide affordable housing resources and opportunities in our neighborhoods.
Adrienne Ott is a Senior Planner at the Borough of State College Planning and Community Development department. Born and raised in State College, she recently moved back to the Borough with her husband to raise a family. She loves working with the State College community and practicing architectural and sustainable design. As a planner at the Borough, she staffs the Redevelopment Authority and the Historical and Architectural Review Board. If you have any questions on this project, please contact her through email at: aott@statecollegepa.us.