Penn State students mourn loss of State College McDonald’s to future high-rise with ‘vigil’

Close to a hundred students paid their respects to their beloved McDonald’s in downtown State College Sunday evening with a candlelight vigil after it was sold and closed.

In its place at 444 East College Ave., State College, will be a new mixed-use high-rise, The Mark. Students broke out into chants about Big Macs, singing “Amazing Grace” and the fast food joint’s signature “I’m lovin’ it” jingle. In between were speeches and even a brief “f— your high-rise” chant, all while students held up lit candles and their phone flashlights.

But, as one speaker pointed out, not all is lost. The forthcoming high-rise includes plans for a McDonald’s.

“Today we lose but tomorrow we rejoice, there’s a new McDonald’s coming in,” a student yelled, followed by some cheers and also confused looks, as not everyone realized it would be replaced.

Plans for the new high-rise were submitted in August 2022. Landmark Properties, an off-campus housing developer headquartered in Georgia that owns several other student apartment complexes in State College, proposed a 12-story building at the corner of East College Avenue and Sowers Street. The 155-foot building will be mixed use, as a multi-family residential apartment building with commercial and retail space.

The Mark is planned for the site that currently includes the Keystone Building, McDonald’s and the Armenara Office Building. A lot consolidation plan is part of the final land development plan, according to plan documents. Commercial and retail space will be on the first and second floors, and the conceptual designs from Cube 3 show McDonald’s on the first floor of The Mark.

The developers will likely come in for a final plan approval sometime in early 2025, Ed LeClear, director of planning and community development for the State College borough, said in an email.

“The project appears to be a go now (that) Landmark closed on McDonalds,” he said. An inquiry was sent to Landmark Properties.

Real estate transactions show “Mark at State College LLC” bought the McDonald’s building for $12 million last month. It’s unclear when the downtown McDonald’s closed but the sign on the door says “This location is closed. Please visit one of our other stores.”

And Centre County has plenty of other locations to offer, although perhaps not as convenient for students making their way home after a late night: 2167 S. Atherton St., 1615 N. Atherton St., and 2821 E. College Ave. are all in the State College area.

The “candlelight vigil” was organized by Barstool Penn State. The digital media company’s Penn State social media accounts invited people to “join the community in remembering McDonald’s legacy” as the “Penn State community mourns the closing of the beloved downtown McDonald’s.”

In all, it lasted for about 20 minutes. Among the items left on the front windows of the building were candles, a stuffed Nittany Lion and a half eaten cheeseburger, along with a few sticky notes thanking the establishment for “all the Sunday lunches” and “the gainz.”

It wasn’t the first time Penn State students have paid tribute to a closed eatery that way. In 2020, students collectively mourned the closure of downtown’s Taco Bell with a vigil that made its way to the national news and “Saturday Night Live.”

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