Delaware State University has signed a lease with the owners of the former Sheraton Hotel and formally took over the building on July 28.
The sign for the former hotel on DuPont Highway has been removed.
The seven-story building, about one mile north of the university’s main campus, has been renamed the DSU Living and Learning Commons. The hotel had reportedly been on the market for years.
DSU personnel from the areas of facilities, housing, information technology, public safety, finance and other university offices are now working get the building ready for student occupancy in the fall semester of this year.
The university is currently working with the city of Dover Planning Office to rezone the property from its current Commercial Recreational classification to Institutional Office.
While the university is working through that process, the city has given DSU permission to house students in the Commons. The Commons will provide the university with additional residential space for students as DSU embarks on a plan to renovate and upgrade existing residential halls on campus. The facility will be used to house students while residential halls are being modernized over time.
The university entered into a $12 million, 15-year lease agreement with the owners of the former Sheraton Hotel with an option to buy at any time after the end of the second year.
