Mixed-use development on outskirts of Lewes; warehouse projects get state money
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Sussex County Council considering mixed-use development on outskirts of Lewes
Plans for a mixed-use development at Kings Highway and Gills Neck Road remain in the balance after Sussex County Council Tuesday deferred their decision on the project.
Public comment will remain open until May 6. The developer, Chesapeake Realty Partners of Owings Mill, Maryland, will then have two weeks to respond before council makes a decision.
Chesapeake Realty Partners wants to build an office complex next to the Cape Henlopen Medical Center across Kings Highway from Cape Henlopen High School. The offices would be surrounded by a 267-unit residential development backing up to several existing communities including The Moorings, Breakwater and Jefferson Estates. The development would have 114 duplexes and 153 townhomes, according to the plans.
The project requires two rezonings. The roughly 45-acre property is currently zoned for agricultural use and is among the last parcels of farm land around Lewes.
The property has been in the Mitchell family for seven generations, Bob Mitchell said Tuesday. He said farming is no longer a viable option and the family has been involved for years in shaping the redevelopment plans to help enhance the area. They previous sold portions of the property for other projects such as Big Oyster Brewery's expansion and the Cape Henlopen Medical Center.
"We do have some roots there," Mitchell said. "It was quite a family discussion. We don't take it lightly."
State awards $2 million to warehouse development
The state's Council on Development Finance on Monday awarded $2 million to Stoltz Real Estate Partners of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania for infrastructure upgrades at two warehouse sites.
Stoltz is planning to build a roughly 890,000-square-foot warehouse at 650 Churchmans Rd. near the intersection of Route 273 and Route 13 and the New Castle Airport.
The development group is also planning to expand its site at the former Blue Diamond Park, where Amazon now operates a roughly 1.5 million-square-foot fulfillment center. Plans call for a total of five warehouses at the Federal School Lane and Hamburg Road site.
The money awarded by the state comes from its new site readiness fund, designed to invest in infrastructure upgrades to prepare sites for new development. In March, the Council on Development Finance awarded more than $6 million from the $10 million fund.
The projects funded in March include the redevelopment of a Claymont industrial site, a 2.5 million-square-foot warehouse project off Route 13 south of the St. George's bridge and the redevelopment of DuPont's Chestnut Run Campus.
Shawn Tucker, an attorney for Stoltz, told the council that no tenants have signed on for the warehouses under development.
FUJIFILM gets $1.6 million grant for expansion
With its second Delaware expansion in as many years underway, FUJIFILM will receive $1.6 million in state money.
The Council on Development Finance awarded the money Monday to support the expansion of their New Castle-area plant and 32 new jobs.
BACKGROUND: FUJIFILM to expand its Delaware site, again
Between the two projects, FUJIFILM's total investment is about $47 million, with $28 million dedicated to the second facility. Construction began in March and is expected to be complete by summer 2023. It will add 11,000 square feet of production space to the Delaware site.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Mixed-use development on outskirts of Lewes; warehouse projects get state money
