BEAR — A new industrial park may be rising in Dover, just in time to potentially tap into the joint-use agreement that may draw more commercial and cargo flights to central Delaware.
The Council on Development Finance (CDF), the state’s economic development investment board, unanimously approved a $700,000 Site Readiness Fund grant for a project that would bring three warehouses to 350 Lafferty Lane less than two miles north of the Dover Civil Air Terminal. The grant would be used for engineering costs as well as sewer, water and stormwater management.
Right now, the 19 acre site is still in settlement with Dover Industrial LLC, an entity managed by Bret and Kirk Davis, owners of development and brokerage firm Davis Strategic in Salisbury, Md., and Travis Martin of Chesapeake Plumbing and Heating.
“We’re looking to close on this property in the next 60 to 90 days and then start construction as soon as humanly possible,” Davis told the council on Monday morning. “Our guess is that six months from last Friday when we met with Dover officials sounds somewhat reasonable. The plan is to build the first building as well as the infrastructure for the entire site.”
Plans for 350 Lafferty Lane show three buildings with 200,000 square feet of space for companies of all sizes. Martin, who has been at the helm of a steadily growing HVAC and Plumbing company, is expected to provide that infrastructure while Davis Strategic plans to bring internet to the site.
The total project cost is estimated at $22 million; $5 million of that is projected for the first building.
The three buildings would be built-to-suit and Davis told the council the hope is to leverage the Civil Air Terminal to ideally attract large “job producers” to Kent County. After years of negotiations, Delaware’s Department of Transportation and the Delaware River and Bay Authority have successfully finalized a deal to boost operations at the aircraft terminal with two of the largest runways in the state.
The proposed agreement, if signed by federal officials, could boost takeoffs and landings to 25,000 and maybe pave the way for commercial flights. It would also increase the terms of the agreement from 25 years to 50 years.
Kent County and Dover officials have long believed that adding more flights is the path to draw more companies to east Dover, including to develop around the Civil Air Terminal itself. Increasing the amount of time on the lease will also help encourage growth at the terminal, Kent County Economic Partnership’s Executive Director Linda Parkowski previously told the Delaware Business Times.
“The plan is to first build the 50,000 square-foot building and infrastructure, but once the space stabilizes, we can build for any specific user. Our ideal customer is anyone who can use the airport, whether that’s someone who services planes or logistics,” Davis said.
Martin and his partners were among the first recipients of Delaware’s Site Readiness Fund in 2022. That funding is designed to provide taxpayer-backed grants to invest in infrastructure upgrades to make shovel-ready sites for new development. With $1 million, Martin Property Development created the Frankford Business Park off the U.S. Route 113 with roughly 220,000 square feet in total space.
“We’re just now finishing up the last building and we’re close to 100% occupied. I believe the businesses that relocated to that park were about 60% of those who relocated to Delaware,” Davis said. “I do believe this grant would allow us to put much-needed space in Delaware.”
