I was never a Wilmingtonian. I have written about my first exposure to the city when I was bussed into the former Bancroft School when I was 10 years old. But that’s decidedly a different tale versus seeing a place through the eyes of an adult.
When I was younger, it was “The City,” a sprawling maze of high-tops and concrete towers with the names of the biggest banks in the world emblazoned on their facades. I remember the first time I had jury duty when I was in my 20s in that same city - I had a hard time navigating the streets to the courthouse without my smartphone to serve as a GPS.
Wilmington also had some not-so-flattering names, referencing its crime rate in the 2000s and 2010s. I have friends on Maryland’s Eastern Shore who get worried when I mention I work in the city; they often whisper “be careful.” That also includes my husband’s concerns, by the way.
Now, four years after I started working out of Wilmington, it’s almost miraculous to see the difference.
It’s been quite a sight to see how many professionals are walking the streets during the weeks, often during the lunch rush as I head out to DE.CO. For a while, I chalked it up to the Harris campaign headquarters, which has hired hundreds of people to stay on through the 2024 election.
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For close to a century, the DuPont Building served as DuPont's headquarters in downtown Wilmington. Now, with historic tax credits and other local incentives, BPG has turned part of the building into apartments, like 101 dupont place.| PHOTOS COURTESY OF BUCCINI/POLLIN GROUP[/caption]
But when I stopped by a cafe on a Monday afternoon to grab my carryout chicken salad, I couldn’t help but marvel at the swirl of people inside the food hall and the steady stream of people out on the streets. I’d estimate there were about 50 people inside at that same moment, although that’s napkin math.
That, according to my barista, was a slow day.
It can’t be just the influx of staffers from the Harris-Walz campaign making a final push, though I suppose we will find out after Nov. 5 if I’m wrong. There’s a renewed energy around Wilmington and it almost seems to be an overnight success.
But in the words of Chris Buccini, the co-founder of the Buccini/Pollin Group, it’s an overnight success close to 30 years in the making. BPG is the largest developer in Wilmington, betting big on apartments and redevelopment on several parcels. It takes time, capital and, probably more importantly in this case, someone who’s invested in the community.
It’s well-known that the Buccini brothers grew up in Wilmington and came back after working in New York City and witnessing every American urban corner being revitalized. So the brothers and their partners came back to their hometown– complete with its unique foundation and older buildings– and tried to do something authentic, later finding a strategy in highly amenitized apartments to draw in young professionals.
There’s been studies that show it’s working. International broker JLL reported earlier this year that buildings with 10 or more amenities, like a rooftop terrace and a full service gym, have seen a net absorption rate of 23.3 million square feet since the COVID-19 pandemic first started.
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Delaware Business Times Editor Katie Tabeling[/caption]
The report also shows that the quality of the service offered impacts that rate, too. A food hall generates a 1.4% rent premium over those buildings with just a restaurant inside.
The team at BPG are not alone, but perhaps they really are the trailblazers in the model that has caused so many residents to come to Wilmington. While there are some concerns about whether workers would ever come back to the office full-time, the city is also seeing a captive audience stay 24 hours a day with new residents.
Buccini told me in October that Wilmington had started to really thrive during the pandemic, with crime rates low and people looking to get together after months of isolation. People are downsizing and have realized that Wilmington offers a lower cost of living compared to larger and surrounding cities.
“We really saw Wilmington as being the keystone between D.C. and New York, and Baltimore and Philadelphia. It’s right in the middle and there’s the Amtrak,” he said.
Looking at the monster success BPG has had, it reminds me of another rising project in Dover - another city where people told me no one would dare go out and dine or hang around after hours. That city must have scores of people from the state, the courthouses, the General Assembly, Bayhealth, Chesapeake Utilities and more. For years, when I asked where the workers go for lunch, I was just met with silence.
The Downtown Dover Partnership has signed with Mosaic Development Partners to start major redevelopment projects that are included in a $500 million master plan that would bring 97,700 square feet of commercial space and 927 residential units within the historic district.
It’s a project that has already received state and federal grants, but I also foresee it may need several of the historic tax credit and abatement programs that BPG used to make it work. And more importantly, it needs the vision of all parties to move forward and beyond the doubts that nothing will ever change.
