The Downtown Improvement District (DID) Board of Directors will meet today to discuss the next step in the "mixed-use" development on the corner of Fraser Street and Beaver Avenue.

The DID was given control over the development project Monday night in a unanimous vote by the State College Borough Council.

"We'll look for someone to develop [the land] commercially and professionally," DID Director Teresa Sparacino said. "[We'll need] to seek a developer to complete the project."

A Redevelopment Authority (RDA) was the alternative being considered for control of the mixed-use development project by council members because of a recent state law amendment that would permit more flexibility regarding downtown development.

"There are a lot of similarities between how the two operate," Mayor Bill Welch said.

He thought the main reason council chose the DID over the RDA was because of time restraints. The RDA would have to be chosen and formed, adding another step in the process.

Sparacino said the project, which started in 2001, was originally a cinema project that expanded into a "mixed-use" development that could include possible retail space in addition to a new movie theater.

Council member Cathy Dauler said a cinema steering committee has been working very closely with the DID since the committee's creation in 2002.

"This has been a project where we've been working side by side [with the DID]," she said. "We all have the same information."

Dauler, also a member of the steering committee, said this was the first time the two groups worked together.

"There's good give and take," she said. "This is the first time we've had this kind of a group working and sitting at the same table together."

Planning Director Carl Hess said the next step is putting together an agreement between the DID and the borough to try to outline what each group's new roles would be.

"It'll be for both parties to sign [the agreement] to find out how the project will proceed," he said. "[We've] never had a project like this. Most have been parking garages, ... things that are typically more municipal in function."

Hess said the borough currently owns the land slated for development, and it would be given to the DID in a land transfer maybe by the end of 2005.

"This is going to be a relatively complex plan. Nothing can be done until the library moves," he said, referring to the relocation of the Schlow Memorial Library back to the corner of Beaver Avenue and Allen Street.

Welch said it might be worthwhile to eventually form the RDA for other projects throughout the borough.

He said that typically council members would name authority members and some council members could be uncomfortable with giving such ultimate power to one person.

Welch said another reason to not create the RDA is because it is unfamiliar to the borough. He also said the RDA would be working directly with the Planning Commission.

"Eliminating council seems odd to me," he said. "The Planning Commission would go right to the RDA without council as the middle-man."

Dauler said that once the land is handed over to the DID, the borough will have less control over the project.

She added that the agreement would be important when determining the borough's role in the process. "We want to make sure the project we designed is the one that is developed."