Harvey Hanna signs PODS to New Castle industrial park

Harvey, Hanna & Associates built a new warehouse for PODS, which nearly tripled their floorspace in the New Castle industrial park. | PHOTO COURTESY OF HARVEY HANNA & ASSOCIATES

NEW CASTLE — A new building along the Interstate 95 corridor has come online this spring and it has already landed a tenant.

PODS, or Portable On Demand Storage, is a moving and storage company that has signed a lease for 130,000 square feet of space at the newly built Delaware River Industrial Park. The latest project by Harvey, Hanna & Associates is planned for 45 acres of industrial land facing the Delaware River and within half a mile of interchanges.

PODS will occupy the entire building at 50 Harbor View Drive, moving from its former 299 Anchor Mill site at the end of March. The new warehouse is close to three times larger than its old site.

“This location provides increased capacity and positions us to better service our customers across an expanded geography. We are excited to grow our long-standing presence in the greater Philadelphia area, which began 20 years ago, in ways that enhance customer trust and add value to the communities in which we operate,” PODS Senior Vice President of Enterprise Operations Jeff Concannon told the Delaware Business Times in a statement.

PODS containers are large weather-resistant steel containers used for storing and moving household items. The containers typically come as small as 8-feet long and as large as 16-foot containers and can be delivered to a storage site or a new home.

PODs has locations throughout the country, including two in Dover. When the company moves into the Delaware River Industrial Park, it will be relocating all nine employees from its current New Castle County location.

Harvey, Hanna & Associates is a Newport-based real estate redevelopment company with 3.5 million square feet of industrial, office and hospitality real estate in the mid-Atlantic region. Over the years, it built and ran industrial parks like Twin Spans Business Park near the Delaware Memorial Bridge. At one point, that industrial park landed Philadelphia Gear Company, Tire Rack, the Speakman and Zenith plumbing distribution centers.

In 2017, the Delaware River Industrial Park welcomed tenants like the  American Training Driver Academy and a Staples distribution center.

“We are proud to unveil this addition to our portfolio,” Harvey Hanna & Associates President and CEO Thomas Hanna said in a prepared statement. “This project underscores our dedication to delivering cutting-edge industrial spaces designed to optimize efficiency and productivity for our tenants.”

The new building in the Delaware River Industrial Park also signals the first time Harvey Hanna handled the entire design and construction project in-house.