DOVER — Byler’s Store Inc. is working to build a warehouse at Garrison Oak Business and Technology Park, marking the latest company to go public with plans to build in Dover’s long-awaited development.
Byler’s Store, a country market with two locations in West Dover and Harrington, filed plans to build a 37,000-square-foot warehouse in the 390-acre industrial park by Dover officials back in April. The warehouse would also have a commercial bakery space, ideally to serve as space to receive and store food and products.
Documents filed with the city of Dover estimate that seven to 10 employees will work out of the warehouse, as there will be 24 parking spots. There will also be five truck loading spaces.
Byler’s Store Inc. owner Lyndon Byler declined to comment to the Delaware Business Times at this time. The Commercial Moving Experience realtor Jeff Spiegelman brokered the deal.
“I’ve been working with Lyndon for a while, and he was looking into expanding his space. When we got the listing for Garrison Oak, it was thought it could work for him,” Spiegelman said. “The warehouse would support the existing retail stores in the state, but there’s the possibility of adding on the facility down the line.”
The proposed Byler’s warehouse would be on the second lot of Garrison Oak, occupying 14.7 acres.
Byler’s Store Inc. was first opened by Lyndon Byler’s parents, Joe and Amanda Byler, as a closeout grocery store in 1974. But over the years, the family added a deli, bakery and country gifts and bulk foods. Around 2010, a second store in Harrington was added, and around that time the company employed about 100 staff members.
This warehouse is the first prospect that has started the planning process since the city signed on Commercial Moving Experience to market the property. Under the direction of partners and father-and-son duo Chuck and Jeff Spiegelman, the city reopened the zoning code for the Industrial Park Manufacturing Zone Business and Technology Center (IMP2) to allow more uses.
IMP2 was specifically created for Garrison Oak by the city. In 2019, it was amended to allow warehouse and distribution use. But now the zone includes packaging, truck terminals, vocational education facilities, craft distilleries and microbreweries.
“That change really didn’t have an impact on this. Byler’s was just looking for space, so it was the right place, right time. But the zoning has really helped in modernizing the listing,” Jeff Spiegelman said. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the manufacturing and distribution area, and there may be a spec warehouse.”
The Commercial Moving Experience reportedly has six prospects for Garrison Oak in the works, and two signed for a letter of intent.
