FAIRFAX — To date, the 100,000 square-foot office building at Delle Donne & Associates’ Avenue North has only two floors available on the market. For Ernie Delle Donne, the chairman of the firm, that’s a major sign in the market’s buy-in of the ambitious $1 billion redevelopment project.
“To have a building with 12 floors and have 10 pre-leased before you even open the doors tells you how strong the market is,” Delle Donne told the Delaware Business Times.
The glass tower, complete with marble finishes that was inspired by Washington D.C. memorials and expansive views of Wilmington as well as the Philadelphia skyline to the northwest, is the hallmark of the Avenue North project that is eight years in the making. As of mid-March, the tower was almost leased up with Delle Donne Associates’ own offices, law firm Morris James and land use law firm Tarabicos Grosso, LLP.
“We felt, while developing this building, that there was a need for a smaller amount of office space for tenants,” Delle Donne said. “The rents may be about $12 per square foot more than the Delle Donne Corporate Center, but people really want those amenities to attract that talent.”
Delle Donne Associates first bought the former AstraZeneca site in 2017 with a plan to build 1.9 million square feet of residential, office and retail in a walkable format not seen anywhere else in Delaware.
There’s already a captive audience on the 83-acre campus with corporate offices including entities such as ChristianaCare, Solenis and AstraZeneca. With JPMorgan Chase & Co., the Experimental Station and Nemours close by, Delle Donne believes there is built-in demand for high-end amenities at Avenue North By his estimation, there’s 14,000 employees in the area whose average salary is $103,000, as well as considerable wealth in the homes along Woodbrook and surrounding the nearby DuPont Country Club.
“This concentration of employment doesn’t exist anywhere in the state, including Wilmington. You have to remember that since 1949 [when it was bought by DuPont] this site hasn’t been open to Delawareans,” he said. “How many times do you get the opportunity to build apartments next to multi-million-dollar homes? That doesn’t come along often. I do think each component in themselves is extremely strong.”
Delle Donne is well known for his meticulous focus on the finer details with his projects in northern Delaware, including the Delle Donne Corporate Center. That can also be found at Avenue North. The project started with the firm sending six designers to Paris for a week to identify design elements for a pedestrian-friendly community, almost like what could be found in Old Town Alexandria or in Annapolis.
It also looms large over the Wilmington area. Delle Donne Associated brought in 9,000 truckloads of stone dust to raise the elevation of Avenue North to 360 feet— 10 feet above Concord Pike. The glass tower is 200 feet tall, but with the elevation boost, it towers above the tallest building in Wilmington.
Right now, Avenue North is planned to include 350 apartments, each larger than the average luxury unit in the state constructed out of steel and concrete, each with a dedicated parking spot in the underground lot. There is a chance Delle Donne Associates could expand it by another 250 units.
As for retail tenants, Delle Donne Associates has been working with various local employers to get a feeling of what people want to see on the site. That feedback means the firm is negotiating with four daycares and various restaurants at different price points.
Shops on deck include Loca Beauty Salon, Sardella Mediterranean Cantina, Fred Astaire Dance Studios and Blackwell Barn & Lodge which will offer special event and meeting space. Existing tenants include Brew Haha! and BlkOps Fitness.
