Middletown keeps building; Newark apartment projects in the works
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– Brandon Holveck, bholveck@delawareonline.com
🎯 Is Target coming to Middletown?
That's been the question as residents poured over this week's Middletown Planning and Zoning Commission agenda, which includes a proposal for a large retail building on Middletown Warwick Road.
The answer: There's been no final or official word. Middletown Mayor Kenneth Branner Jr. at a public meeting in May said Target was planning to take the space. But Branner did not respond to a request for comment this week when asked for an update. Target also did not respond to a request for comment. Middletown is not listed on Target's list of upcoming locations.
Big businesses like Target typically prefer to remain anonymous until a lease is signed and construction plans are approved. In this case, the development — under the name Northside shopping center and proposed at 305 Middletown Warwick Road — is still at the early stages of the approval process. The plans will go before the planning commission Thursday and are scheduled to be reviewed by the state next Wednesday.
After that, they will need to go before the Middletown Town Council twice.
For reference, Target officially announced its Prices Corner store in late 2019 about a year and a half before it opened. Chris Robbins, the owner of the shopping center, later told Delaware Online/The News Journal he began discussions with Target for more than a year before the announcement when a confidentiality agreement was lifted.
The plan calls for a 147,613-square-foot retail building. Advertising materials indicate a letter of intent has been signed.
🏭 More warehouses and a hotel proposed in Middletown
The retail plan is just one proposal on a crowded agenda for the Middletown Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday. The town will also review plans for a hotel on Celebration Court and multiple warehouses around Middle Neck Road near Route 301.
The hotel is a four-story, 48,000-square-foot building at 255 Celebration Court. The warehouses are proposed north and south of Middle Neck Road west of Route 301 near the Maryland border.
The state is scheduled to consider another warehouse proposal at Bunker Hill Road and Route 301 next Wednesday. The plan calls for a 795,600-square-foot warehouse and a 286,000-square-foot warehouse.
🏢 Lang apartment projects in Newark to be considered
Two apartment projects from Lang Development are progressing through Newark's approval process.
A plan to build a seven-story apartment building at Delaware Avenue and Chapel Street will be introduced to Newark City Council on Monday. The apartments are proposed where a Burger King was previously located. The Burger King was demolished in March 2020, and the site has since been used as a parking lot.
The apartment building would have a small commercial space and parking for tenants on the first floor. The upper six floors would have 65 two-bedroom apartments, each with its own balcony. There would also be a small recreation area with Adirondack chairs, tables and possibly a fire pit and cornhole boards, according to a presentation prepared for the planning commission.
PREVIOUS REPORTING: New businesses and other changes to expect in Newark
The proposal seeks a rezoning from BC (general business) to BB (central business district). Apartments are not allowed in BC-zoned areas. The project will also require a special-use permit.
The Newark City Council is scheduled to vote on the project Aug. 22.
Earlier this month, the Newark Planning Commission recommended approving a four-story apartment building on North Chapel Street where the Chapel Street Players Theater is located. Lang gained control of the theater when the development group agreed to build a new theater as part of its Creek View Road redevelopment project.
Lang has proposed knocking down the old theater and an adjacent home, which it also controls, and constructing a four-story apartment building with 21 two-bedroom units and parking on the ground floor.
The project will now go to the Newark City Council for a final vote.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Middletown keeps building; Newark apartment projects in the works
