DOVER – Jack Lingo Asset Management (JLAM) is preparing to bring apartments to Delaware’s capital in a move that could house and employ hundreds of people.
Windward Ridge, located on West Denney’s Road in Dover, will include 300 apartment units spread across 13 residential buildings featuring one-to-three-bedroom apartments ranging from about 1,050 to 1,400 square feet, according to Managing Principal Doug Motley. The garden-style apartments will feature private balconies or patios, upgraded finishes and access to top-tier amenities such as a clubhouse, pool, yoga and fitness studios and wooded walking trails.
Now that the Delaware-based company has finished raising equity and completed the property acquisition, construction can soon begin with initial leasing expected to begin in 2026, he added.
“Dover is Delaware’s capital and second-largest city, anchored by stable public and private sector employers – from the state and county government to Dover Air Force Base, Bayhealth, Kraft and Delaware State University. But despite that strong foundation, the rental housing supply hasn’t kept pace with demand,” Motley told the Delaware Business Times in a prepared email.
“We saw an opportunity to deliver high-quality housing in a market that needs it,” he added. “This site gave us the best of both worlds – proximity to major job centers and Route 1, paired with a wooded, serene setting that aligns with how we think about placemaking. It’s a site where we can build a real community, not just apartments.”
The entire project will cost JLAM about $70 million in investment funds which Motley said was 100% privately financed with no public subsidies or grants like Delaware’s Site Readiness Funds.
JLAM hopes the focus on apartments will support nearby working families with the goal of keeping the homes at market rate so housing can be attainable.
“Like many places around the country, Dover is facing a housing shortage – especially when it comes to attainable, high-quality rental options. Apartments will allow us to deliver more units per acre, keep costs lower and preserve open space,” Motley told DBT. “And with this site specifically, by concentrating the development on one side of the property, we’ve protected mature woods on the other – which we’re enhancing with trails and outdoor space for residents. The result is a thoughtful balance of density, livability, and design.”
This, of course, is not JLAM’s first apartment project. The company is also associated with Winward Grove and Winward on the River in Milford, owned by Wickersham Milford Holdings, LLC., which opened hundreds of housing units in 2021, both townhome and apartments. JLAM also recently opened a 238-unit apartment complex in Camden called Sunset Village.
