Apartments, shops planned for ex-Avon site near Newark

A developer plans to level most of the old Avon Products distribution facility near Newark, which has sat vacant since 2009, to build more than 600,000 square feet of apartments, office space, retail and dining.

The plans for the property include three four-story apartment buildings encompassing 220 units. Forty of those would be restricted to senior citizens. Each apartment building would include about 300,000 square feet of residential space. A two-story parking garage is also planned.

Jerome S. Heisler Jr., executive manager of Bear-based Reybold Venture Group XVI LLC, said the apartments will range from one to three bedrooms and be similar to other Reybold developments. Students at the nearby University of Delaware will not be targeted for the residential space, Heisler said.

The plans also call for a two-story office building with about 93,000 square feet of space. The front building of the old Avon office will make up part of that space, Heisler said.

"It has that funkyish '60's architecture that is really cool," Heisler said. "We are going to keep that."

The property employed more than 700 people at its peak.

County Council is expected to vote next week on whether to rezone the 42-acre property from industrial to commercial regional – a point of controversy with some council members. The county's Land Use Department has endorsed the proposal contingent on improvements to nearby intersections.

Councilwoman Lisa Diller said the office space would be ideal for businesses related to Christiana Hospital.

"They are talking about expanding, and I think [the developer] is seeing that office and residential as attracting ancillary businesses or the people who do move in and need a place to live," said Diller, who represents the area.

The property also will house five one-story retail buildings occupying just under 200,000 square feet. Reybold plans to build three restaurants on the property. The development also will feature a butterfly pavilion and art exhibition area for student creations, Heisler said.

The development is bordered by the Windy Hills subdivision to the north and separated from the homes by a railroad track. Heisler said he plans to build a fence to further buffer the homes.

Acting County Land Use Manager George Haggerty said the developer still has to finalize designs with state transportation planners to improve at least two intersections to minimize congestion.

Haggarty said the next council vote will be on the rezoning proposal. Another vote will be required to finalize the plan once designs for roadway improvements are complete.

Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick lamented giving up industrial space in a time large employers should be prioritized.

The shutdown of Avon, which had operated on the property since 1958, was one of a series of industrial losses in the area during the economic downturn. Its closing came shortly after the shuttering of the Chrysler assembly plant in Newark.

In 2007, Avon announced it would be consolidating its distribution operations to Ohio. The Newark hub closed in 2009. Some of the property has been used by United Parcel Service, but most of the space has sat vacant.

Joanne Finley has owned Finley's Art Shoppe and Gallery across from Avon since the 1970s, living in her business for a period.

"I was always impressed with Avon. The people who worked there said it was a good company that was good to them," Finley said recalling the strings of red and green lights strung along the company's front windows each year around Christmas.

When Avon closed, she said she lost business from the company itself and from some of the residual traffic the operation generated near her store.

Haggerty argued that the Del. 273 corridor has been shifting from industrial to commercial for decades. Until the late 1950s, the area was primarily farmland. Avon was one of the first developments on that stretch.

Other large industrial applications like the General Foods warehouse and West Virginia Pulp and Paper Co. plant followed shortly after. Industrial infill occupied much of the space until the 1980s when the shift began.

"You see the transition taking place in this corridor. Nobody is starting up a new industrial facility," Haggerty said.

The decades since have seen the paper plant become a Lowes Home Improvement Center, car dealerships pop up along the stretch and industrial park property occupied by churches and recreation centers, Haggerty said.

"Through the years, they have eliminated those places that employed a lot of people. It's probably that way everywhere with things being manufactured overseas now," Finley said. "It has definitely been a change out here."

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.