Former GM plant at Boxwood approved for demolition

New Castle County has granted a demolition permit to Boxwood Industrial Park, LLC and redevelopment partner Harvey Hanna & Associates for the redevelopment of the former General Motors plant on Boxwood Road in Wilmington.

The demolition of the three-million square foot former plant structure is the first step in Harvey Hanna’s redevelopment of the former plant property into a state-of-the-art business and distribution campus.

Work is expected to begin after Thanksgiving. ATSM Enterprises Inc., headquartered in Philadelphia, will lead the demolition and reclamation contractor. A significant portion of the materials will be reclaimed, recycled and reused.

Earlier this year, Harvey Hanna filed an exploratory proposal with the New Castle County Department of Land Use detailing its plans to transform the former plant property. An economic study of the proposal released in May found the campus would produce more than $281 million in annual impact, largely through the creation of more than 2,100 permanent jobs in logistics, distribution, engineering, transportation and an array of support industries and services.

The study also found the campus would generate millions in new tax revenues for the state of Delaware, New Castle County and Red Clay School District, and drive home values up around the property by an average of 14 percent.

The proposal calls for the complete demolition of all dormant buildings on the property, followed by the construction of three million square feet in new commercial space spread across four buildings. If approved, the buildings would be constructed in multiple phases, with additional green space, improved storm water management and new landscaping buffers added to the new business and distribution campus.