WILMINGTON — The MRA Group hopes to further unlock the potential of the growing Chestnut Run Innovation & Science Park (CRISP) campus with the future Marriott Residence Inn by adding recreation and leisure services to the site.
The developer team, with representatives from WSFS Bank, Energize Delaware and other companies, gathered Wednesday morning to break ground on the 127-room hotel on the eastern end of the campus. Several nearby buildings like Solenis are under construction and other buildings are being demolished at this time as a sign of how far the project has come since it was first announced in late 2021.
The hotel is an integral part of the CRISP overall plan for the “live, work, play” concept that’s becoming more mainstream and highly desired by companies, according to MRA Group Executive Vice President Phil Butler.
“It’s more about what we believe is the right vision for a campus redevelopment like this. You know the cliche, live, work play, but it’s real,” Butler told the Delaware Business Times. “It’s what we really learned in the last two iterations of a life science campus. Having that amenity like a hotel not only adds to the culture but also the opportunity.”
MRA Group, based in Horsham Pa., has 30 years of experience but none may be as relevant right now like the conversion of an old AT&T/Bell Laboratory site into TEK Park and a former Rohm & Haas/Dow Chemical research and development site into Spring House Innovation Park. Both of those facilities include walking trails, fitness centers, on-site dining services and more.
Future amenities at CRISP will follow that blueprint with shared amenities like a hotel, fitness center, outdoor amphitheater, conference space and day care services.
“The reality is that when people work on a campus like this they work long hours, and with national and international life science corporations, it allows for more convenience for that lifestyle as well as other clients,” Butler said. “When you look at companies who are interested in bringing their leaders to this facility, they get excited about the ability to book rooms here and get a cocktail a short walk from the office.”
In 2021, the MRA Group struck a deal with DuPont to acquire a large portion of its Chestnut Run headquarters campus, where DuPont employees tested products before further development. DuPont later decided to sell the property after a review of facilities across the world found unused lab and office space. DuPont has leased back some of the space for use.
In turn, the MRA Group planned a $500 million research and innovation park off Route 141 which would offer 780,000 square feet of modern lab space. Companies like Prelude Therapeutics and Solenis have signed leases for new buildings. Prelude officially moved to CRISP in early 2024 and Solenis is slated to move in later this year.
In a small ceremony before a handful of guests, Butler said that the past four years have been a rollercoaster with spiking inflation, labor and material shortages making it difficult to plan ahead. But he noted that the “small but mighty” MRA team headquartered at CRISP was rising to meet the challenge.
“I was just talking to some folks saying that we bought the campus from DuPont, it was a little bit desolate,” he said. But as the activity picked up [from the team here], we now have a hub of energy that doesn’t feel that way anymore. That’s the vision that we want to see.”
Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos (D-Elsmere/Newport Gap Pike), who is part of a bipartisan life sciences caucus, also spoke at the event. He remembered private tours with other legislators where MRA Group outlined its vision which opened his eyes to the possibilities that await.
“This campus of the life sciences ecosystem that we’re looking to bring here and make us able to compete as a state. This is going to allow us to compete for the jobs of tomorrow and build our economy and make our students stronger,” he said.
