The north side of Route 273 in Christiana was once envisioned as a retail hub complementing the regional powerhouse Christiana Mall to the northeast.
But the area now appears headed toward a warehousing future.
Two real estate companies have filed plans to New Castle County that would add a combined 1.3 million square feet of warehouse space across three buildings. The new projects replace abandoned plans for two retail centers along Eagle Run Road, the L-shaped road that connects Route 7 and Route 273.
There is significant demand in Delaware for industrial buildings, developers say, that are used for manufacturing or logistics warehousing. The boom in warehousing space in particular has led some owners of struggling retail properties to consider repurposing their land. In this case, it’s replacing retail space that failed to get off the ground throughout the 2010s.
The proposed projects in Christiana appear to mark an end of efforts to fill the area off Route 273 between Route 1 and I-95 with drive-up retail options. Only one of three proposed centers in the area was ever built: the Christiana Town Center, which today features Boscov’s, Old Navy, Five Below and Aldi.
PREVIOUS REPORTING: A new warehouse could end longtime plans for another retail center by the Christiana Mall
Backing up to I-95 from Eagle Run Road, The Market Place at Christiana was once proposed as a 220,000-square-foot retail center with a hotel and office space. The Promenade at Christiana would be built next to it, a 400,000-square-foot retail center that drew interest from Walmart.
No action has taken place on those plans in several years. The nearly 90 acres the projects would have inhabited are now open land distinguished by a few service paths and disposed concrete dividers.
Since the county last reviewed plans for The Market Place and The Promenade, the Christiana Fashion Center has established itself as the mall region’s top auxiliary retail center. Among its tenants are Main Event, Best Buy, Edge Fitness and REI.
The developers behind the projects — Equus Development of Pennsylvania and New York’s Kimco Realty — declined to comment.
Equus’ project is further ahead in the county’s approval process. The group is planning to build a 442,000-square-foot warehouse. The property is a 43-acre plot of fragmented forests and wetlands bounded by I-95, Eagle Run Road and Route 1. It was owned for decades by local developer Isaac Budovitch, whose earliest plans included multiple hotels, a restaurant and a car dealership.
Equus has not built in Delaware, but last year acquired two industrial buildings on Churchmans Road near the New Castle Airport. The company has been active in the warehouse market surrounding Pennsylvania’s I-81. Its Christiana project has been reviewed by the county, but has not had a public hearing. Equus will seek variances for wetland disturbances, according to county documents.
Kimco submitted plans earlier this month for a warehouse development west of the Equus property where it had proposed The Promenade at Christiana. A Sears warehouse where you buy scratch-and-dent appliances once stood on the property, which is across Eagle Run Road from Delmarva Power.
Kimco’s proposal includes two 297,600-square-foot warehouses.
Kimco’s portfolio is primarily commercial properties. It’s involved in the Brandywine Commons II on Concord Pike and Camden Square on Route 13.
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Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @holveck_brandon.
