The sign that has been along the side of Interstate 99 for years – “Coming soon, Logan Town Centre” – is becoming reality. This morning, developer Greg Morris and his partners were joined by Congressman Bill Shuster, State Senator Robert Jubelirer and Rep. Rick Geist as ground was broken on the multi-million dollar project.
The final hurdles were cleared recently as the project received final approval from the state Department of Enviornmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers.
The $100 million project is expected to create 4,000 permanent jobs and 2,000 construction jobs.
In an earlier interview with The Daily Herald, Morris said he is expecting a big boon to the economy.
“We are expecting the average salary to be $25,000 per year per employee of Logan Town Centre,” said Morris. “If you multiply that by the 4,000 employees, that is $100 million annually in the economy. We have done studies for the economic spin-off and shoppers are projected to travel to Altoona from a 60-mile radius. The Altoona area will be known as the largest retail shopping area in all of Central Pennsylvania.”
The project received the support of Shuster and Jubelirer, who helped avoid red-tape road blocks that could have stalled or even killed the project.
“Getting the necessary clearances from the federal and state agencies without missing key deadlines or losing valuable chunks of the construction season required intensive advocacy,” said Jubelirer after the DEP permit was awarded. “The result has not been easily accomplished. The developer made significant concessions in the plans and substantial contributions to midigation efforts in order to have this project happen. There frankly is the right balance here — the economy wins, but the enviornment doesn’t lose.”
In April, Congressman Bill Shuster announced finding for an extention project at the 17th Street exit of I-99 that would provide access to the Centre.
Logan Town Centre is expected to provide Logan Township with $150,500 of property taxes, the Altoona School District with $553,400 and Blair County with $296,100 on an annual basis.
More details will appear in tomorrow’s Daily Herald.
