Mid-town Park Garage brings 511 underground parking spots to downtown Wilmington

Several years before the crumbling Mid-Town Parking Center in downtown Wilmington was condemned in 2011, The Grand stopped directing patrons to the closest garage to the theater.

Even though the '50s-era parking garage was only a block away, concerns about damage to people and vehicles caused The Grand (and much of the rest of the city) to turn its back on what had been a central hub that offered parking, retail shops and a coffee counter.

"There were even incidents where they locked the doors and left, leaving people's cars inside," remembers Mark Fields, executive director of The Grand.

About a decade after the garage fell into a serious state of disrepair, The Buccini/Pollin Group will unveil its new five-level subterranean parking garage on W. Ninth Street when it opens Monday, April 2.

Part of a $75 million luxury apartment complex known as The Residences at Mid-town Park at 820 N. Orange St., the parking garage will be known as Mid-town Park Garage with 511 parking spots in what will be the city's first underground garage. Located 50 feet below street-level, the garage will be operated by Chicago-based parking company SP+.

The 200 apartments above will be housed in two buildings -- five and nine stories tall -- with pre-leasing beginning April 2 and move-in starting May 28. The studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments will range from $1,050 to $2,000, according to officials with the Wilmington-based real estate company.

A pedestrian bridge will connect the two buildings, which is outfitted with everything from a large outdoor pool and dog-washing stations to a game room and a demonstration kitchen. About 12,000 square feet of retail space is on the street level.

After years of dusty construction in the area, along with intermittent road closures, one of downtown's biggest projects is near completion, giving downtown visitors a new secure and stable parking alternative.

To start, BPG will offer $1 parking at the lot with validation if you visit a downtown restaurant or entertainment venue, according to Chris Buccini, co-president of the firm. (Normal rates range from $5 for the first hour to $14 for 24 hours. There's a post-5 p.m. night rate of $4 and $150 monthly parking passes will be available.)

"Even though there's plenty of on-street parking on any given night, but people want dependability," Buccini says. "This is the new and improved version of the old go-to."

But it's not just the garage and apartment complex coming online in downtown that has business owners and residents excited.

The small walkway that connected N. Market Street to Shipley Street across from The Grand near Chelsea Tavern is being blown out to create an expansive common area.

Dubbed Chelsea Plaza, it will not only open up the somewhat claustrophobic canyon known as Market Street, but will also allow customers of Chelsea Tavern and UDairy to eat dinner or grab a beer under the stars.

The space will be opened next month, creating an open path between Eighth and Ninth streets that stretches from The Residences at Mid-town Park to the government buildings on French Street.

"You're going to be able to come out of that garage and see the front of The Grand. It's just going to be so convenient," Fields says. "The optics are going to be great."

At the same time, a pair of new restaurants are preparing to open on N. Market Street.

Italian spot Arde Osteria at 629 N. Market St., owned by the team behind nearby Dimeo's Pizza, and Margaux, a restaurant with its own on-site bakery and crêperie at 902 N. Market St., are both nearing opening dates this spring.

At the same time, work continues a few blocks away at Wilmington's DuPont Building where the $3.5 million DE.CO food hall project will open later this year at 10th and Orange streets.

If you were at the opening of Stitch House Brewery last weekend, located on Market Street across from The Grand, you got a taste of what BPG is hoping for.

Large, steady crowds were drawn to what is only the second downtown Wilmington brewery in more than six decades with young professionals and families mingling at communal tables. On one soft opening date, they even ran out of food.

"We're trying to do more of that," Buccini says of adding more casual, relaxed bars and restaurants like those found in Trolley Square.

Above the brewery are seven apartments known as 829MKT, which will be available starting April 1, ranging from studios and one-bedrooms to large open loft-style units ranging $734 to $1643. (Sorry beer fans, there's no fireman's pole connecting the brewery to the apartments above.)

Buccini says the goal behind all of the development is to give residents everything they would want in a small city with hopes of drawing a total of 5,000 residents to downtown. They have more than 2,000 now after BPG opened three new residential buildings over the past year.

"We're going to keep building one to three residential buildings every year," Buccini says.

With restaurants, theaters, beer gardens, an IMAX movie theater and a mix of retail shops, they're betting that they can change the longtime trend of young professionals moving to the city's Trolley Square area after getting their first post-college job.

The site of the new parking garage isn't just a spot to drop off your car, but also holds a piece of civil rights history that ended up being settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mid-town Parking Center was the home to the Eagle Coffee Shoppe. When the shop denied service in 1958 to then-Wilmington City Councilman William H. "Dutch" Burton, the shop and the building owners, Wilmington Parking Authority, were sued by famed Wilmington civil rights attorney Louis L. Redding. In the end, the Supreme Court sided with Burton and Redding.

In a nod to that history, a new road between the two Mid-town Park buildings will be named Burton Place, giving access to the parking garage.

Fields says The Grand will begin promoting the resurrection of Mid-town Park Garage to its customers soon.

The Grand's MyChoice series subscribers -- fans who purchase tickets to three or more shows -- receive free parking with their purchases. And for the '18-'19 season, patrons will be able to choose Mid-town as their garage in addition to the two other garages currently being offered.

Forrest Friedman, regional manager for SP+, says customers will be able to reserve spots online and pay at walk-up stations or at the exit.

Oh -- and that past problem of the old parking garage being locked, stranding customers?

Friedman says those days are over: "We'll be open 24/7."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).