Capital One is stepping up to fund the second phase of development at the former AstraZeneca North Campus outside Wilmington.
The bank announced on May 22 that it has provided a $68 million five-year loan to Brandywine Investment Group II, an affiliate of Delle Donne & Associates that is financing the next stage of development at the property.
The project, called Avenue North, combines 1.85 million square feet of office, residential, retail, restaurant and recreation space within the 80-acre campus. Located at the intersection of U.S. 202 and Powder Mill Road in Fairfax, the $350 million development was first announced in the summer of 2017.
“Delle Donne has taken a careful, methodical approach to developing Avenue North, which will include some exciting things in the future,” said Jeff Wallace, a senior vice president in Capital One’s Commercial Real Estate Group. “As a result of this thoughtful approach they have attracted some of the premiere companies in the region to join them as tenants.”
Capital One financed the first phase of the project as well, when Brandywine Investment Group 1 acquired the property from AstraZeneca in a sale lease-back transaction. This new loan will fund construction of a 1,373-space parking garage and pay for tenant improvements and leasing commissions
Plans currently call for Delle Donne to build approximately 350 apartments, 150,000 square feet of retail space, 100,000 feet of office space and a 200-room full service hotel.
In late 2018, Delle Donne signed additional leases with Christiana Care and Solenis for the two office buildings previously occupied by AstraZeneca. Christiana Care took occupancy of its 386,000-square-foot building in March 2019. Solenis will take occupancy of a 110,000-square-foot building on the property in January 2020.
“Capital One has worked closely with us at each stage of this multi-year project,” said Ernest Delle Donne, the company’s chairman. “The team’s ability to structure a series of loans that support our strategy and the certainty of execution they provide have kept us on track.”
