The construction of the new all-inclusive student housing, The Retreat, set to open in the fall of next year, has continued to move forward after much debate.
State College Borough Council member Jim Rosenberger said many of the would-be neighbors of The Retreat, 322 W. College Ave., were in opposition of its construction.
“It’s a fairly quiet neighborhood at the moment and they were worried about potential noise,” Rosenberger said.
However, he said the State College borough had little input on the subject and said the College Township Council voted for the project to proceed.
College Township council member David Koll said he did not know of any recent opposition from the community members.
He said some of the homeowner’s property encroached on The Retreat’s property, but the housing company actually moved their fences at the cost of the original property line.
“What I’ve heard is that they’ve basically bent over backwards to make this as least painful as they possibly can during the construction phase of it,” Koll said.
Koll said that because of the significant amount of money being put into the complex, he did not think it would have only a party atmosphere.
Cathy Bryan, national leasing director for Landmark Properties who spoke on behalf of The Retreat, said the complex will include a myriad of both outside and inside amenities, such as a clubhouse, a cyber café with a coffee bar and a computer lab among many others.
“You feel ultimately that you can have your home away from home,” she said. “Kids feel very grown up.”
Bryan said to make sure they included what the students wanted, the company conducted a survey, and said the clubhouse would be an important aspect of the hosing unit.
However, College Township vice-chairman Daniel Klees said many residents were upset when they were going through the approval process.
Klees said because of this, the management was required to sign an extensive set of conditions that went along with the approval process.
He said the concern for a lot of residents was that the housing units would become a place for parties and loud noises.
“The developer made a lot of commitments,” Klees said. “We won’t know until next year whether it’s effective or not.”
College Township Chairman David Fryer said there have been no recent complaints that he was aware of since construction began earlier this year.
“My only hope is that the developer lives up to what he put on paper and what he promised to the public,” Fryer said.
