Middletown pharma project breaks ground; Squisito opens; Incyte next steps
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🏭 STA Pharmaceutical breaks ground on Middletown campus
A sprawling manufacturing campus in Middletown will make STA Pharmaceutical one of the largest employers in the growing southern New Castle County town in the coming years.
STA Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec, broke ground on the 190-acre campus Tuesday just over a year after first announcing the project. Company representatives have said the first phase of construction will lead to 479 jobs and, when fully developed, the campus could employ around 1,000 people.
It will be located on Industrial Drive at Merrimac Avenue just south of Middletown Warwick Road, one of Middletown's main drags of shops and restaurants. The campus will be across from an Amazon fulfillment center and next to the recently opened headquarters for Breakthru Beverage.
WuXi AppTec is a China-based company that provides research and development and manufacturing services for clients such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Roche, and STA Pharmaceutical is one of their main subsidiaries. The Middletown campus will serve as STA Pharmaceutical's U.S. headquarters.
The first phase of construction in Middletown will include a drug product manufacturing facility, a laboratory and office building and administrative space.
The state awarded STA Pharmaceutical a $19 million taxpayer-funded grant last year for construction costs, job training and job creation.
The company expects the facility to open in 2025, according to a press release.
🍕 Squisito Pizza & Pasta opens in Christiana Fashion Center
Squisito Pizza & Pasta opened at the end of July in the Christiana Fashion Center. It took the place of MidiCi, a Neapolitan pizza shop that closed in 2020.
Squisito is an Annapolis chain established in 2008 with nine additional restaurants across Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee.
🔬 Incyte project seeks variances
The next step in the approval process for Incyte's office building plan on part of the Wilmington Friends School campus is seeking a set of variances.
Incyte is scheduled to go before the New Castle County Board of Adjustment on Aug. 25.
The current plan calls for a five-story office building with an underground parking garage built on the Wilmington Friends Lower Campus behind Incyte's existing Augustine Cut Off headquarters. The plan requires variances for the parking garage and to permit a gross floor area ratio greater than that allowed by county code. It also requires a variance for the number of parking spaces provided, coming more than 1,000 shy of the number of spaces required by county code.
PREVIOUS REPORTING: Why a judge sided with Wilmington Friends in lawsuit over new school with Alapocas HOA
Incyte agreed to acquire the Wilmington Friends Lower Campus for $50 million in 2019. Wilmington Friends plans to build a school for pre-kindergarten and elementary school students on its main campus. That project will be considered by New Castle County under a separate proposal.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Middletown pharma project breaks ground; Squisito opens; Incyte next steps
