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In 2019, Frank DiMondi filed plans to subdivide a 43-acre concrete plant into 21 lots. He hopes to attract small to medium manufacturers and distributors. | PHOTO COURTESY OF PLUS[/caption]
WYOMING — In a small town 4 miles outside of Dover, developer Frank DiMondi is planning a third act for the former Wyoming Concrete Industries that used to run in his family.
DiMondi expects to start on-site construction work to transform the 43 acres on Southern Boulevard into 21 lots for warehouses. Plans filed with the state for the future Wyoming Business Park show that each lot is approximately 1 acre in size, and two warehouses are already built.
“We’re bullish on this, so we’re starting site work all at once now, instead of doing it in phases,” DiMondi told the Delaware Business Times. “We’re expecting to be up and running in nine to 12 months, and occupancy should come quickly after that.”
The Wyoming Business Park received state planning approval back in 2019, but most recently received $1 million in a Site Readiness Fund grant for infrastructure and utility work. That should pave the way for two warehouses, about 30,000 and 10,000 square feet, respectively.
“Our plan is to develop it for light industrial use, thinking it will be a good fit for distribution. There’s small and medium-sized manufacturers that are looking for space — just 10,000, 20,000 and 30,000 square feet of space,” he said.
DiMondi’s family-owned Wyoming Concrete Industries, which sold construction materials across the Mid-Atlantic region since the 1960s. The enterprise was sold in 2001 to Pennsy Supply, a sand, asphalt and concrete supplier based in Pennsylvania. DiMondi and his business partner Fredrick Ellingsworth, who formed E&D Holdings, bought it back in 2017 for $1.25 million.
“Selling the family business wasn’t exactly something that was planned, but my father gave his blessing. It turned out the company didn’t do much with it, so we decided to buy it back from them,” DiMondi said.
In the last two decades, DiMondi has built a reputation as a commercial and residential developer with many other enterprises. Residential projects include Wynsome Knoll Townhome Development and custom homes under Salt Air Homes, and other commercial projects under DGKP including the Camden Business Center on the southern end of the rising Wyoming Business Park.
DiMondi was able to rehabilitate two existing buildings on the former concrete plant. One is leased out as a distribution center for Improving Mobility Development, a medical equipment and supplies company based in Madrid.
Looking to the future, DiMondi hopes to leverage the Camden Business Center as a way to attract small to medium manufacturers. A road will be built to connect the two business parks as a larger campus.
“With a short drive to the bypass west of Dover, it’s a pretty great reach for companies not only looking to reach Pennsylvania and New York in three hours, but in Norfolk, Va., as well,” he said. “We do think this will play well for the local and regional market.”
