Wilmington hopes 9-to-5 workers become 24/7 residents

Wilmington business owners say the residents from 150 apartments in six North Market Street projects set to come online by the end of the year will go a long way toward turning the area into a vibrant, 24-hour community.

"Instead of the zombie traffic we get now, the more people who live here the better," said Derek Newton, general manager of the World Café Live at the Queen.

Newton is banking on the additional residences creating more foot traffic and energy on Market Street, which often empties out after business hours.

"We have been waiting for this day," Newton said.

Buccini/Pollin Group, a development company best known for redevelopment projects on the riverfront several years ago, bought the properties in 2008 and are now just getting to construction.

The first is 608 MKT, a 28-unit project at 608 Market St., next to the Delaware College of Art and Design, that opened last month. About half the units are leased in the building.

The 37-apartment redevelopment of the former WSFS headquarters at 838 Market St. is set to be completed later this month with a mix of market-rate and low-income units. Another 24 units at 839 Market St, above a Walgreen drugstore, are scheduled to open this fall.

Forty-six market-rate rental units are expected to open by December at 627 Market St., a former department store. Most recently it was home to Delaware State University classrooms. Also opening in December are 15 income-restricted units in a former furniture store at Market and King streets and seven market-rate units at 829 Market St.

Buccini/Pollin Senior Vice President Michael Hare said they're marketing the units to a specific group: Those who work in Wilmington but then leave.

"Our focus to have attractive housing like this is to compete for people [who live in Philadelphia] so that if they are working here, they live here," Hare said.

The investment comes as more residential units have taken hold on Market Street, including LOMA and Shipley Lofts. In 2012, the Delaware College of Art and Design opened a residence hall at 707 N. King St. Buccini/Pollin also has a planned 231-unit luxury apartment complex planned for the former site of the Mid-Town Parking Garage in the area bordered by Ninth, Orange, Eight and Shipley streets.

Bryan Sikora, owner and chef at La Fia in the 400 block of Market St., recently opened a new restaurant just around the corner called Cocina Lolo. The new joint, which serves Mexican food, will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekdays and dinner on weekends.

Sikora said he is keeping an eye on how new residents in the area might create more opportunity for him to expand hours. His restaurants are often a destination for people coming into Wilmington from the suburbs or who are in town for business, but having a regular crowd to stop in for a quick bite and a drink before heading home or out to a bar would be a welcome change, Sikora said.

"What we would like to see more often are people, just in the community here, that move in and are looking for somewhere to congregate and have a glass of wine," Sikora said.

"We see this as a game-changer," said Marty Hageman, executive director of Downtown Visions, a downtown development group aimed at bolstering the businesses and development in the city's central business district. "This will take us from basically what has been a 9-to-5 downtown to having a 24-hour presence of people here."

This new economy will create an opportunity for new businesses to set up in Wilmington, Hageman said.

"For a sizable community of residents, things like supermarkets are going to be necessary," Hageman said. "We also don't have a quality liquor store downtown. Residents are going to want to walk to attain those amenities."

Clothing boutiques and a dry cleaner also will be more in demand as well as more nightlife, Hageman said.

Canon Hospitality Management also is developing a Residence Inn hotel in a seven-story office structure at 1300 Market St.

The lack of activities, bars and entertainment is what keeps many young residents from living in the area, said Kelly Wetzel, who runs the Delaware Young Professionals Network. Wetzel, who works in downtown Wilmington and lives in Trolley Square, said there aren't too many options for things to do on the nights and weekends in the central business district.

"I would feel trapped if I lived downtown," Wetzel said. "There is nothing to do."

Reuse for abandoned buildings

Adaptive reuse of former industrial, or as in this case, commercial buildings has sparked a national trend in development, specifically to revitalize areas by redeveloping once-abandoned buildings, rather than tearing them down. The effort also preserves historic structures.

In Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Philadelphia, among other cities, former warehouses and industrial buildings have been transformed into condominiums and mixed-use residential to meet the growing need for affordable housing with millennials and baby boomers moving into cities.

Developers are looking to tap into the population groups who value walkable communities and close proximity to amenities and nightlife.

In Wilmington, the decline in the need for large office space has left many vacant buildings prime for redevelopment.

Samantha Connell, a 28-year-old who works as an instructional coach at the Kuumba Academy Charter School and who moved into 608 MKT last month, said she is excited to be a part of the revitalization of Market Street. Connell moved from another Buccini/Pollin property up the street called the Residences at Rodney Square.

"Every year, I think, it gets better and better," Connell said. "Seven years ago, when I first moved out here, there was nothing."

Connell, who lived in Philadelphia before moving to Wilmington, said as more young people come to live downtown, more bars, restaurants and things to do on the weekend will follow.

Although Wilmington has struggled to combat crime, Connell said crime isn't a concern for her and she doesn't feel unsafe living downtown.

"There is a very strong police presence in LOMA, and Downtown Visions is always around," Connell siad.

Hare said residents don't usually name crime as a concern in regular surveys the company does. He said that is likely because they wouldn't choose to live in an urban area if they didn't expect some nonviolent crime as a possibility.

"The perception on the street is that there is no one there," Hare said. "It is not like there are bad people; it is just that there is no one."

The ZIP code where most of this residential construction is occurring spans the area between Front Street and North Washington Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard to Seventh Street.

In that ZIP code there have been 32 reported crimes in the last month. Most of those crimes are property crimes including thefts from buildings or cars. There were a few violent crimes including purse snatching incidents and a strong-arm robbery.

For Wetzel, of the young professional's group, the perception that downtown is unsafe after dark is enough for many people avoid the area at night.

"I think the city has been doing a good job of trying to create after-work options like concerts and things," Wetzel said "I think a lot of people are still concerned about the crime, so they don't stay."

"The more people that live here, the more people will feel safe here," said Julia Han, a business owner and landlord on the street.

Hare said his company is looking to protect the investments it has made with developments near Rodney Square and the riverfront by building a spine of activity on Market Street to strengthen the downtown.

"We are trying to attract a younger demographic because they have a disposable income and will spend it," Hare said.

While no other developers have projects currently underway, Hare said the company has been trying to help other companies see the opportunity downtown for residential properties.

"There is no real pride in being the only horse in the race," Hare said.

'The more people, the more restaurants'

Han, who owns retail stores Sneaker City and Sports Connection, several apartments and a vacant lot she hopes to develop, said there is room for others in the residential market downtown.

"City living is where the market is going from the residential side," Han said.

Han is looking to build a mixed-use project with retail on the ground floor and residential above on a lot she owns on the 400 block of Market St.

"The finances and everything are in the works," Han said.

The project's current plan is to have two commercial units on the ground floor with 22 residential units above. Han said she is confident that more residential units will be in demand, even after Buccini/Pollin's projects are completed.

In her current rentals, Han said each year she has seen positive growth, attracting better tenants who are willing to pay more.

"Four of five years ago, I was at 60 percent occupancy, and now I only have two units that are available," said Han, who said rent in her buildings average $800 a month for a one bedroom, depending if the unit is renovated.

"A lot of my customers commute to work from New York," said Han of her sneaker business. "They would prefer to live in town, but they don't because of the lifestyle."

Han said she is confident that if more people move into downtown Wilmington, that lifestyle, which includes nightlife and activity, that her customers crave will follow.

"The more people, the more restaurants," Han said. "The more restaurants, the more people will be down here, and then there might be a need for my stores to stay open later."

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2837. Follow her on Twitter @JennaPizzi.

Downtown Wilmington projects

•608 Market St.

28 units, all market rate, new construction

One-bedroom unit rent: $1,350

$6 million project cost, with $528,000 in Downtown Development District funding

•627 Market St.

46 units, all market rate, former department store building

$10 million project cost with $585,000 in Downtown Development District funding

•829 Market St.

7 units, all market rate

$4.5 million project cost

•838, 839 Market St. and 6 E. Third St.

$26 million project cost including $4.3 million in low-income tax credits, $3.7 million in federal historic tax credits and $4.5 million in state historic tax credits.

838 Market St.: 37 units, 22 units with an income restriction of $34,080 annual salary for a single person and 15 market rate. In the former WSFS building.

839 Market St.: 24 units, all with income restrictions. Above the Walgreen drugstore.

6 E. Third Street: 15 units, all with income restriction of $34,080 annual salary for a single person. In a former furniture store.