WILMINGTON — The Buccini/Pollin Group is aiming to relocate popular brewery Constitutional Yards next to the Homewood Suites next year, hoping to add more apartments to the riverfront.
BPG Founder Rob Buccini told the Delaware Business Times that the final decision to move the 30,000 square-foot beer garden would likely come at the end of this summer. But he also said it was time to move forward with an apartment complex to add value to the land. BPG has already filed plans with the city to build a 162-unit apartment complex at 308 Justison St.
“It’s quite literally a bend in the river, and we thought that location was best for residential,” Buccini said. “It was the original plan to market and plan residential on that site, and we do feel comfortable with the fact that we can move the beer garden and have the same experience on the river.”
BPG is one of the major players in downtown Wilmington and one of the driving forces of redevelopment at the Wilmington Riverfront. About 28 years ago, officials joined together to start rehabilitating the series of run-down warehouses held over from the city’s shipbuilding past that were largely used as storage into the tourism attraction it is today, complete with riverwalk, the Frawley Stadium, restaurants and museums.
BPG owns seven acres of developable land at the Riverfront while the Riverfront Development Corporation owns at least 24 acres of land. Constitutional Yards sits on one of those parcels and before it opened in 2016, the city opened its ice skating rink years before.
“When we first met at Constitutional Yards, we said it would be family friendly, and I do think people were blown away by what actually happened,” Buccini said. “We’re keeping it, because it’s been a great component to the restaurants we have there.”
BPG plans to start construction on the seven-story apartment complex by the end of the year, adding onto its vast inventory it has on the riverfront and in the city. But Buccini added the beer garden’s place may not be set in stone.
“There’s a chance we could move it on the other side of the river, it depend on the road infrastructure,” Buccini said. “It could be an anchor there and there’s plenty of parking. But we’ll make the final decision by the end of the summer.”
