The mixed-use development at Newark’s College Square has been rebranded and is now known as The Grove.
A name change for streets passing through the community was approved by the Newark City Council at its Monday meeting. Click here for the document related to the request.
New Castle County-based Fusco, the long-time owner of the site, rolled out a new website for the community. that show a walkable area with open space. Slated for completion in 2022, the 46-acre mixed-use community will include 306 luxury apartment homes with amenities.
Nearly 23,000 square feet of new restaurant and retail space surround a landscaped plaza at The Grove with its 6,000 square feet of outdoor seating.
“We’re bringing new walking trails, nearly a thousand new trees, a beautiful community green space, 300 new luxury apartments, 60,000 square feet of new retail, bike paths, and so much more to Newark,” says Frank Vassallo IV, president of Fusco Management. “The Grove at Newark will elevate living, dining, shopping, and leisure throughout the Newark community.”
Apartments will be ready for new residents in 2022.
The name and renderings for the area reflect the transformation of the site from a large expanse of concrete and asphalt to a mixed-use community with apartments, retail and service businesses, as well as 1,000 trees.
Similar developments, known as town centers or lifestyle centers, have sprung up around the nation at sites that include former malls and strip centers.
Northern Delaware has not seen a project of this size, although a couple of developments in the Pike Creek area east of Newark have combined retail and apartments. Sussex County is the home of the Village of Five Points community near Lewes.
Construction is now underway on luxury apartments at the Newark site that has been branded as the Compass at the Grove.
Unlike the high-rise development next to Newark Shopping Center, the more than 300 apartments are not designed to attract undergraduate students. Original plans called for the apartments to be two-bedroom with a smaller number of three-bedroom units aimed at young professionals and empty nesters.
A portion of the former shopping center site had been renovated to accommodate existing tenants. The center had been losing tenants for years as Kmart, a Sears hardware store, and Walgreens exited the area.
One long-time tenant, the busy Pep Boys parts store and repair shop, is vacating its space at the center.
