Good afternoon,
I’ve been working through a backlog of business news in the past week or so.
Up north, the news is largely positive as the state’s recovery resumes many projects were delayed or slowed due to pandemic uncertainties.
Here’s a sampling of the big stuff. Further information is available from previous stories on our website.
- A $60 million-plus high and mid-rise apartment complex at a parking lot at Fifth and Shipley Streets, just off Market Street in downtown Wilmington.
- A $100 million infrastructure-related expansion of the Wilmington Riverfront will bolster scattered development in that area.
- A pleasant surprise as more details were released on the redevelopment of the former College Square Shopping Center in Newark. The community, known as The Grove, will have 1,000 trees and features a walkable mixed-use development with restaurants, retail, and more than 300 apartments without the student housing design that generates big profits.
More is in the works. We are also seeing a host of greenfield projects in Coastal Sussex County.
While northern Delaware development focuses on existing properties in need of redevelopment, many of the smaller Sussex projects come with challenges that include inadequate infrastructure, the loss of farmland, and threats to plant and wildlife habitat.
Delaware has never been good at getting roads, and other infrastructure in place before traffic-clogging projects are constructed.
Pushback is apparent, especially from those who recently moved in and mistakenly thought things would remain as is.
One question mark up north is the office market. Signs seem to point to many people who worked from home during the pandemic becoming reluctant about resuming a five-day-a-week commute.
And while current development and redevelopment in Wilmington is necessary for the city’s survival, critical problems remain, including much of the city’s population seeing few benefits from the turnaround.
It adds up to a lot of uncertainty and, at least in the short term, more office space on the sublease market.
The good news is that the state’s economy is springing back.
The “sugar high” from stimulus money helps, but much of this activity was in the works pre-pandemic. It is good to see that few developments fell by the wayside. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
