Penn State’s two hotels near University Park — including the iconic Nittany Lion Inn — are poised to be sold to a third party this fall and will remain in operation, based on a resolution passed unanimously Wednesday morning by the board of trustees.
Scholar Hotel Group, which opened a 72-room hotel in downtown State College in January 2021, is the “preferred partner” of the university. As a result, it will negotiate both the purchase and ground lease for The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center and the Nittany Lion Inn.
“The university will continue to own the land that the hotels sit on, but the buildings would be owned by Scholar with a long-term ground lease,” said Sara Thorndike, vice president for finance and business. “Eventually, at the end of the long-term ground lease, the buildings would come back to be owned by the university to reevaluate operations.”
It is not known how long the ground lease might be — they typically range between 50 and 99 years — and it’s also not yet known how much Penn State might receive for the sale. Thorndike said during the brief public meeting that the university intends to continue negotiating the “confidential terms,” which were shared with the trustees but not with the public.
The university expects the Penn Stater will remain open, although the Nittany Lion Inn will remain closed until 2024.
