The University of Delaware and its 1743 Holdings, LLC unit are seeking “Letters of Interest” from developers interested in developing and running a hotel on the STAR campus.
An invitation letter stated that UD is seeking “potential partners with the demonstrated financial, development and operational expertise to bring a full-service hotel” to the campus, the former site of a Chrysler assembly plant.
The university is interested in bringing a “full-service hotel with a restaurant and a conference facility to the STAR Campus and creating a partnership with its Hospitality Business Management (HBM) Program that will facilitate experiential learning and future employment opportunities for its students,” the letter notd.
The letter also indicated that the campus is slated to be “an innovation district where startup enterprises and incubators will exist within a dense urban-scale location that also includes established companies, the university and its partners, along with a range of commercial, retail, residential and open space uses.”
Jeremy Sunkett, UD’s director of real estate, said the new $50 million Newark transit hub contributed to the decision to seek expressions of interest for a hotel.
The rail project is slated for completion in late 2018. The hub could spur development at the STAR Campus and open the door to projects, like a hotel, he said.
Sunkett said a timeline developing a new hotel could be two two to three years, with market conditions and other factors playing a r0le.
The Courtyard Marriott-University of Delaware operates on the northern end of the UD campus. Hospitality Business Management students work at the hotel, which also has an attached classroom area.
The university letter noted that the STAR Campus is the home for computer systems performance monitoring company SevOne; a prosthetic and orthotic manufacturer, Independence Prosthetics-Orthotics, Inc.); fuel cell maker Bloom Energy; a business incubator, Delaware Technology Park at STAR; and the university’s Health Sciences Complex.
The next phase of development, a 100,000 square foot facility on the 16-acre parcel where the initial development has occurred, is expected to be completed in late 2018.
Letters of Interest should indicate the developer’s ability to finance, develop and operate a full-service hotel under a development agreement with 1743, LLC, the letter noted.
