Middletown gains new stores, eateries

The warmer weather now enveloping the region is also heating up Middletown's retail development market: Nearly a dozen restaurants or retailers have recently agreed to lease space in its burgeoning Westown development.

Some of the names have been bandied about and many are familiar chain outlets, but all will be new to Middletown: the Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille, sporting goods company Olympia Sport, Chipotle Mexican Grill, AT&T Mobile, Kiku Japanese Steak House, the Hair Cuttery, fast Chinese food outlet Panda Express, 24-hour gym Anytime Fitness, Images Salon, nail spa Kingdom Spa and women's clothier dressbarn.

Not announced by DSM but leaked during a recent town planning meeting: Aldi, a low-price grocery store. All will be situated on the north side of U.S. 301, on a tract west of the intersection of U.S. 301 and West Main Street.

"I think things went a little quicker than we thought they would there," said Jim Tancredi, a leasing representative with DSM Commercial Real Estate Services, which is marketing the sites for developer Joseph M. Capano. "We get a splash of activity when springtime rolls around. And right now, it's incredibly busy."

The new additions to Westown, the town's public-private plan for "smart growth," join several smaller and anchor retailers already in place. Those include Westown Movies, Walmart and Kohl's on the north side of U.S. 301, which front or are close to a large mix of single-family homes, townhomes and apartments. Across the highway are big-box competitors Lowe's and Home Depot. Two major employers, Amazon and Johnson Controls, stand to the southwest.

Farther south, on the other side of the Estates at St. Anne's and just off Green Giant Road is a 170-acre tract of land that developers hope will become the Delaware Sports Complex, which would host youth sports competition, including tournaments. Visiting players and parents, they say, would be frequenting nearby restaurants; the complex would be about a 4-mile drive from the cluster of new eateries and those already operating.

Two of the newly announced restaurants, Chipotle and Panda Express, will be part of a four-tenant, 8,000-square-foot building facing U.S. 301, next to a stormwater retention pond. Construction is set to begin in early June. They'll bookend AT&T Mobile and the Hair Cuttery.

Two of the four 15,000-square-foot buildings to be built on the east side of Kohl's, around what's being called Main Street at Westown, will house the other two new eateries: the Greene Turtle and Kiku Japanese Steak House. They will be joined by Anytime Fitness, Images Salon and the Kingdom Spa. More are on the way, Tancredi said, "and we're starting now to lease the back two buildings." Construction will begin in July.

Olympia Sports and dressbarn will occupy a multitenant building, now under construction on the other side of Kohl's, where craft and art supplier Michaels, Marshalls and Petco have already been announced as tenants.

While Aldi was mentioned during the May 21 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting as the grocer slated to occupy a 17,825-square-foot building planned near the intersection of U.S. 301 and Bunker Hill Road, Tancredi said that agreement has not been finalized.

That announcement, and more, are on the way. Another shared-tenant, 8,000-square-foot building is planned for a space between that eventual grocer and the present Walgreens. "We have a number of prospects for that," Tancredi said. He wouldn't identify them but said, "They're high-end. It's going to be another three or four super-regional or regional eateries and retailers."

A building that could swallow up all of those sites is planned for a site behind them, on the side away from U.S. 301. The 65,000-square-foot will house another three or four "mid-box-style" users, all national retailers. "We're fielding those proposals now," Tancredi said.

DSM and Capano are on a roll, Tancredi said. "We're trying to keep everything in front of us. There's so much happening. It's all coming together like we thought it would. Things are good."

Contact William H. McMichael at (302) 324-2812 or bmcmichael@delawareonline.com. On Twitter: @billmcmichael