Real Estate Journal — Economic Development — January 26 - February 8, 2018 — 1C
www.marejournal.com
M id A tlantic
Harvey, Hanna & Associates, Inc. announces completed acquisition of the 142 acre site 801 Boxwood Road, Wilmington, DE – Update N ew C astle C ounty , D elaware
I
f you have driven past 801 Boxwood Rd. in Wilm- ington, Delaware lately
– neighbors and da i l y commuters a l i ke wi l l notice some- thing they haven’t wit- nessed since 2009. Daily act ivi ty i s
Tamarra Morris
now routine at the once thriv- ing former General Motors automobile assembly plant on Boxwood Rd. On October 25, 2017, Harvey, Hanna & Associates, Inc. (HHA) announced the completed acquisition of the 142 acre site which includes in excess of 3 million s/f of former auto- mobile manufacturing space. The site was purchased by Boxwood Industrial Park, LLC, an affiliate of com- mercial redeveloper Harvey, Hanna & Associates, Inc., of Newport, Delaware. For the neighboring com- munities, New Castle Coun- ty, and the State of Delaware, the acquisition has created a proud sense of hope and posi- tive outlook for the future at a site that once provided over 5,000 jobs. The new owner, Boxwood Road Industrial Park, LLC, is now formulating the best redevelopment options for the site, given its Heavy In- dustrial zoning, the improv- ing regional economy, and the needs of the marketplace. Significant progress has been made since the acqui- sition on formulating the best and highest use for this unique property. HHA is working with land use plan- ners and engineers, energy and environmental consul- tants, governmental officials and economists, among other experts. Specifically, HHA is evaluating two major options for redeveloping the site: • Rehabilitating some or all of the existing buildings and infrastructure on the site for a potential new manu- facturing, distribution, or industrial use; or • Demolishing some or all of the existing buildings to allow construction of a new 21st Century logistics and fulfillment-related campus. HHA’s property manage- ment team has worked re- lentlessly since taking own-
General Motors automobile assembly plant on Boxwood Rd.
a wealth of experience with projects of this nature. Simi- lar in scale to the Boxwood Rd. facility, Twin Spans Business Park is a 135 acre and 2 million s/f class A commercial warehouse, dis- tribution and office campus. Formerly an obsolete manu- facturing facility operated by Chicago Bridge & Iron, the Twin Spans campus is today 100% leased and employs over 1,000 people. “We are proud to be in a position to help attract quality companies and jobs to Delaware,” said Thomas J. Hanna, President, HHA. “This is a rare availability of centrally located industrial property within our region and offers compelling value to a wide array of prospective tenants. We feel it’s well po- sitioned in the I-95 Corridor to capitalize off the soaring logistics industry.” “The chief initiative of the New Castle County Depart- ment of Economic Develop- ment is to support small business. Job creation and increasing the quality of life for the residents of the county are our top priorities,” said Tamarra Morris, Economic Development Director – New
Castle County Office of Eco- nomic Development. “The new development of the for- mer GM Plant at Boxwood Rd. marks a tremendous opportunity to support eco- nomic development through job creation. New Castle County and Harvey Hanna & Associates have forged a partnership to collaborate on this project and other initia- tives throughout the county that support our top priori- ties. The Harvey Hanna story is one that exemplifies why Delaware is a great place to be somebody.” Greg Buckley, neighbor and owner of nearby Buck- ley’s Auto Care is excited about the possibilities at the site. “As someone who not only lives blocks from the site, but who also owns and operates small business in the community, you get excit- ed because you know what a boon to the area a project like this would be,” said Buckley. “It’s a great location, multi- modal infrastructure, sur- rounded by great schools and a community that is 100% behind it. I personally can’t wait to see it all unfold.” For Thom Harvey and Thomas Hanna, this site has
long been on the company’s radar featuring deep roots and personal ties. Hanna’s father worked at the proper- ty as a Plant Engineer when General Motors assembled Chevrolets, Pontiacs and Buicks. Harvey lived adja- cent to the plant and he, his father and Hanna all worked together in the waste indus- trymanaging the commercial hauling from the massive auto plant, and other plants similar to the Boxwood Rd. plant, for over 25 years. Redevelopment plans will be announced in the future as HHA continues to for- mulate its decisions for the site. Simultaneously, HHA is planning future public meetings and local events to establish a communica- tions platform directly with the community to keep all stakeholders informed of major milestones associated with the site redevelopment. Frequent updates and proj- ect announcements will be available at www.harvey- hanna.com and on the com- pany’s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and YouTube. TamarraMorris Economic Development Direc- tor | New Castle County. n
ership of the property. These improvements have made an immediate impact on the overall curb appeal. Recent activities includes: • Parking lot weeds and debris removed • New security fence in- stalled • Front office building weeds, shrubs and overgrown vegetation removed. “We are excited to bring our vision to realty over the next few years at Boxwood Rd.,” said E. Thomas Har- vey, III, Chairman and CEO, HHA. “We are confident our vision for this site will cre- ate thousands of jobs during construction and thousands more well-paying permanent jobs.” From its successful rede- velopment of Twin Spans Business Park in New Cas- tle, Delaware, HHA brings
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