GLASGOW – A new proposal by the D2 Organization to develop an aborted W. L. Gore tract may bring more than 1 million square feet of distribution or industrial space to the Glasgow area.
The project, called Glasgow Commons, is sited at 149 acres near the intersection of Old Cooch’s Bridge Road and Route 896 near Glasgow High School and the Four Seasons shopping center.
D2, a real estate development and investment firm headquartered in Philadelphia with a satellite office in Claymont, is best known in Delaware for its development of the Delaware River Works site near the state border with Marcus Hook, Pa. It signed a lease agreement with Braskem, a biopolymer producer, for a 240-car railyard there.
For its latest project though, D2 is turning its sights to an area that Newark-based W. L. Gore envisioned for 1.6 million square feet of offices, manufacturing, and warehousing as a new headquarters more than a decade ago. The plan never materialized, and the land has only been farmed since. Gore has since reached a sale agreement with D2 for the site, pending approval of the plans.
D2 is now proposing to invest $92 million into the development of more than 1 million square feet of offices, manufacturing, and warehousing split over three buildings.
The property’s location near the existing Pencader Corporate Center and Glasgow Business Community, along Route 896, 1.5 miles south of Interstate 95, positions it well to attract economic development opportunities. D2 submitted its proposal under the county’s Jobs Now program, a review process that prioritizes development projects that bring new or expanded job opportunities to New Castle County.
The proposal must first clear a regulatory hurdle for its minor resubdivision related to the historic nature of the property, just a short distance from the Cooch’s Bridge Battlefield, a Revolutionary War site. Although the county’s Historic Review Board approved Gore’s larger project a decade ago, D2’s proposal faced some concerns in a February review from local historians who wanted to ensure the sites were thoroughly search once more for any artifacts. The board is scheduled to give its recommendation on the proposal March 2.
Even if recommended for denial, D2 could still develop the larger plan originally submitted by Gore. It received a five-year extension on the previously approved plan in 2019, and the land remains properly zoned.
The state Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund (TIIF) Council recently recommended that the Glasgow Commons project be awarded a nearly $4.5 million grant to fund turn lane improvements off Route 896 at Old Cooch’s Bridge Road and GBC Drive as well as road widening on the smaller roads to accommodate additional traffic at the site.
Glasgow Commons is among a rush of distribution and logistics space being developed in New Castle County, including more than 5 million square feet of warehousing already leased or being eyed by e-commerce giant Amazon.
