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Modani Properties is looking to build a 234,000-square-foot warehouse in west Dover. | PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF DOVER[/caption]
DOVER — The last major tract of land in the Enterprise Business Park is slated to be developed into a 234,000-square-foot warehouse, bringing yet more floor space for the growing distribution and warehousing market in central Delaware.
Modani Properties, a national commercial developer and real estate operator of Class A assets, has filed plans to build a warehouse on Commerce Way in west Dover. The 22 acres of land has been on the market for some time, with R&R Commercial Realty listed as the broker.
Modani Properties representatives declined to give a comment to the Delaware Business Times. However, the warehouse has been marketed on the Modani website as a “coming soon” asset.
The warehouse is proposed to be 40-feet tall, with 30 loading bays and 300 parking spaces. Plans filed with the city show 81 trailer parking spaces, with the first phase to include 44 spaces with the remaining amount to be added later. Plans were approved by the Dover Planning Commissioner on Monday.
Commerce Way is part of an industrial park with five buildings all varying in size and has direct access to Route 15. Tenants in the Enterprise Business Park range from Easterseals, Kent County Department of Elections, Capitol Uniform and Linen, Bayhealth’s fleet services, among others.
Earlier this year, one of the larger warehouses was bought by Eastern States Group in a rare Kent County asset. That $8.1 million deal, which was also brokered by R&R Commercial Realty, translated to a cost of $72 per square foot.
Modani Properties is a developer that focuses on industrial logistics development, and owns and maintains assets in Reading, Pa.; Deptford and Laurel, N.J.; and Bristol, Va. However, at this time it has four warehouse projects in the works, including the one planned for Commerce Way, according to its website. The other projects include warehouses in Manchester, Jackson and Sicklerville, N.J.
In recent months, warehouse space in Kent County has been on the rise. The Dover Logistics Center aims to bring 297,000 square feet to the market, ideally by the end of 2023. Meanwhile, smaller warehouse projects like one to be built by Garrison Homes owners on the east side of Dover aims to attract small to medium-sized tenants.
Kent County is best poised to attract warehousing and distribution companies to its borders, with the Rockport 2.0 study commissioned by the Kent Economic Partnership showing that Dover in particular is a 60-minute drive to parts of Maryland’s Eastern Shore as well as southern Pennsylvania.
In Kent County, distribution and warehousing reported a $939 billion demand in 2018 as well as 2,913 jobs. Average warehouse and logistics salaries were $67,000 per year.
