This project added housing to get Wilmington's support. Why it's still not approved
Despite revising plans for a proposed warehouse project in Southbridge to include affordable housing, developers withdrew the project from consideration at the Wilmington Planning Commission meeting Tuesday.
This would have marked the first time in over a year since Diamond Port Property LLC’s project was publicly discussed.
Diamond Port Property was last before the Wilmington Planning Commission on July 19, 2022, when the public body blindsided developers and Southbridge residents by rushing to oppose the community-supported proposal to build warehouses on vacant land along the riverfront and didn’t bother to take public comment.
Since then, developers have worked behind the scenes to make the proposal more palatable to city leaders.
The latest renderings for the 25 acres situated on South Heald and Lobdell streets along the Christina River remove a warehouse and replace it with residential housing, documents shared with Delaware Online/The News Journal show.
“We sought a brief postponement only after learning about comments from the city’s Planning Department,” said Bill Ganc, a real estate broker representing Diamond Port Property LLC. “The postponement was necessary to provide our experts a fair amount of time to review and address those comments before any public hearing.”
Ganc added they expect the review to take a week or two, but once complete, developers will move forward with the project.
What happened to the previous plan?
After the planning commission rushed the vote opposing the original warehouse project, city officials acknowledged the public body violated open meetings law by not allowing for public comment.
CITY OPPOSITION: Why did Wilmington surprise Southbridge residents, developers and oppose project?
Wilmington officials promised a rescheduled meeting to allow for public comment and a vote on whether to approve Diamond Port Property’s requested zoning variances.
The meeting never occurred.
Why did Wilmington oppose the project?
Prior to last year’s meeting before the commission, Diamond Port Property spent months working with community leaders and city officials on the warehouse storage site plan only to be taken by surprise when the city’s planning department came out against the proposal.
The Wilmington department argued the project conflicts with waterfront development design plans and would detract from existing investments in the area.
Ganc, of Ganc Commercial Realty LLC, had argued that warehouses made more sense since the property – which encompasses 1, 25 and 51 S. Heald and 0 Lobdell streets – has deed restrictions prohibiting residential or mixed-use development because of contamination.
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How the project benefits Southbridge
Developers struck a community benefits agreement with neighborhood leaders that commits considerable financial contributions directly to community organizations like Southbridge Civic Association and Neighborhood House and pledges to prioritize contracting and permanent jobs to Southbridge residents and surrounding communities.
The project would also add a riverfront pathway from A Street to Heald and Fourth streets and various trees and shrubs along the streets and pathway to beautify the area and provide shade.
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Diamond Port Property will also have to tackle any environmental issues at the site, especially if there’s a residential component.
The waterfront property was once the site of Diamond Oil, and there are known oil and other compound contaminates in the surface soil to the water table, according to Delaware Online/The News Journal archives.
Those unresolved issues are what prompted the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to issue a deed restriction in 2005 on the property, prohibiting any residential or mixed-use development on the site.
Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Wilmington's Southbridge warehouse project remains in limbo year later
