It started as a 20,000 square foot surgical center in State College.

The project was initiated by the Centre Community Hospital – now rebranded as Mount Nittany Medical Center. Although the hospital was located near Beaver Stadium, they had chosen a site on Scenery Drive near South Atherton Street for their new surgery center. Early in December, while getting the land development plans approved, Penn State approached us to relocate the project near the stadium and the hospital. Joe Paterno weighed in – having been to Michigan and seeing a surgical center that included sports medicine services, he wanted the same. The Certificate of Need issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Health required the foundation be in the ground by April or it would expire and be given to another group.

At first, it appeared to be an impossible task to retain the Certificate of Need. Working intensely with all parties through the Christmas holiday, we had a letter of intent signed by the hospital and Penn State in mid-January. We hit our April deadline.

The story doesn’t end there. The initial 20,000 sq. ft. surgery center design blossomed when the Dean of the Hershey Medical Center wanted to have physician offices in State College. A second and third floor took the project to 129,000 sq. ft. This far exceeded the then current need. Rhodes Development Group then flexed its muscles. We learned that the State College area was home to many young physicians, some with plans of building their own offices. One group represented 38 physicians. This group joined us after we could demonstrate that leasing was more fiscally sound than building and owning their own real estate. Rent concessions made possible by our obtaining tax-free and zero-coupon bonds only sweetened the offer.

By the time the building was completed, we had it 70% occupied. One year later, it was fully occupied. Rhodes Development Group can work through the entire process from land acquisition to move in. Few other companies can grasp how ALL the pieces fit to create a successful building.