A ceremony late last week marked the completion of The Cooper, a new apartment community at 210 Market St. in the southern portion of Downtown Wilmington.
The Cooper, at the site of former furniture stores, has 92 apartments.
Governor Carney, City of Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, 4th District Council Member Michelle Harlee, and members of the board of the Christina Gateway Corporation joined BPG officials Rob Buccini, co-president, and co-founder; Mike Hare, executive vice president of development; and Christine Schontube, vice president of residential operations, to mark the opening.
The Cooper offers studios, one, and two-bedroom apartment homes with open floor plans.
Amenities include a rooftop deck overlooking Market Street, a courtyard, and a fitness center with Peloton equipment. The community also features the only apartment building with a designated dog-run in downtown.
The development is named after the Cooper Furniture Store that previously occupied 212 N Market Street. The design of the present-day Cooper honors the history of the location by refurbishing the original cast-iron facade built in 1874 by Royer Brothers of Philadelphia, also known for facade work of The Grand Opera House up the street.
The final design features two five-story buildings on either side of the façade connected by a glass walkway overlooking the courtyard.
The $25.5 million development continues to achieve Buccini/Pollin Group’s mission in Wilmington to take abandoned and underutilized buildings and transform them for modern use. This project combined the former Cooper building with several other parcels.
After work on the northern end of downtown, Buccini/Pollin Group is adding apartment complexes to the south. The Cooper will bring roughly 140 people to the 200 block of Market Street as part of a broader strategy to build critical mass downtown.
“Today’s opening of The Cooper is the latest addition to the already bustling LOMA section of the Downtown District, and is further evidence that Wilmington continues to be an attractive place to live, work, raise a family and have fun,” said Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki. “It is also a continuation of the remarkable availability of housing options in our Downtown District neighborhood in recent years, thanks in no small part to our partners at BPG, whose continued investment and belief in the future of Wilmington is unwavering.”
To date, BPG has brought over 1,900 units to the residential market in Wilmington and has another 500 units under development or construction, including Crosby Hill, which was recently announced.
“When we broke ground on this project in December of 2019, we all had no idea it would be our last milestone development event as a company before COVID-19 struck our community. What an honor it is to stand here today to celebrate the completion of this beautiful building as our first grand opening event following the pandemic,” said Rob Buccini, co-president of The Buccini-Pollin Group. “The Cooper would not be possible without the unwavering commitment and support from all our partners, including Mid Penn Bank, the Christina Gateway Corporation, Office of Economic Development, Delaware State Housing Authority, DIGSAU, BPGS Construction, and ResideBPG.”
The Cooper is already home to a handful of residents, according to a release.
