Scott Goss

The News Journal

One of Wilmington’s largest property owners just got even bigger.

The Buccini/Pollin Group recently bought three buildings along or near North Market Street that now will be converted into a mix of high-end apartments and ground-floor retail space.

The projects, announced Tuesday, will add a total of 55 residential units to BPG’s growing collection of redeveloped properties along the city’s main shopping district. The politically well-connected development group also owns several office buildings in New Castle County, has undertaken much of the redevelopment along the Wilmington Riverfront and has pursued the Hotel du Pont.

The three newest properties in the company's portfolio are slated to become part of the developer’s MKT brand – a collection of six, fully occupied apartment buildings containing a combined 114 units.

STORY: Christiana office park sold to Delaware firm for $15.5M

STORY: Textron Aviation departing New Castle Airport

“When you bring in new tenants like we have, you create a critical mass that starts to fuel itself,” said Michael Hare, the company’s senior vice president for development. “As these buildings became available, it just made sense for us to make them part of the redevelopment story we have underway.”

Sales prices on the three properties – 827/829 N. Market St., 2 E. 7th St. and 200 W. Ninth St. – were not disclosed.

But Hare said BPG expects to spend $22.5 million rehabilitating the buildings, with the first apartments slated to be available as early as September 2017.

“The projects are in the design phase now,” Hare said. “But we’re anticipating a relatively quick turnaround.”

The redevelopment projects will impact several businesses – some existing and one previously planned.

Kennedy Fried Chicken, a fast food restaurant at the corner of Seventh and Market, will be moving out in October to make room for a new retail tenant, Hare said.

Yet restaurant owner Mir Wais said he’s not going without a fight.

“I’m not going to close,” he said. “They’re going to have to try and make me and then I will fight this in court.”

Wais, who opened the independently-owned Kennedy Fried Chicken with his father in 1991, maintains that he has a 10-year lease for the property. He said former property owner DRT Partnership began claiming the lease was month to month in letters sent to him just before the property was sold to BPG.

“In 25 years, I’ve never been late on my rent once and now my family’s income might be cut off,” he said. “This is a very tough situation.”

The investors in DRT Partnership, attorneys Robert Jacobs and Tom Crumpler, are partners in the personal injury law firm Jacobs & Crumpler located above Kennedy Fried Chicken.

Crumpler on Tuesday disputed Wais's claims but declined to comment further.

"All of the tenants, including us, were given plenty of notice about BPG's plans and I can say they have been working with each of us," he said.

Jacobs & Crumpler, which is slated to move out of 2 E. Seventh St. by January, is looking for new office space in Wilmington, he said. Wilmington Optical, a 40-year tenant of the building, reportedly will relocate to another storefront on Market Street.

Once vacant, the upper floors of the four-story building are slated to become 15 one-bedroom apartments, while an exterior renovation project is planned to return the property to its former glory when it housed a Snellenburg’s department store at the turn of the 20th century, according to BPG.

Two blocks north, the upper floors of the now vacant property at 827/829 N. Market St. – between Masala Kitchen and DiMeo’s Pizzaiuoli Napulitani – will be converted into seven studio and one-bedroom apartments.

The ground floor of the building had been slated to become the future home of 3 Doors Brewing Co., a microbrewery planned by BPG and restaurateur Scott Morrison. Initially planned to open last spring, the pub was put on hold after Morrison’s death in February.

“Unfortunately with Scott’s passing, we had to change directions,” Hare said, adding that a new concept for the space would be announced in the coming weeks.

BPG’s third acquisition is a vacant seven-story building at the corner of Ninth and Orange streets. The property previously was occupied by the cosmetology school American Beauty Academy. The privately owned school abruptly closed all four of its locations in the region late last year when the U.S. Department of Education revoked federal aid to its students.

The upper floors of the building will be converted from office space to 30 one-bedroom apartments, while the ground floor will become three “live/work” units, Hare said.

STORY: New loan program aimed at priming Market Street renaissance

STORY: Mike Purzycki wins Wilmington mayoral primary

The addition of the building at 200 W. Ninth St. represents a major step for BPG by extending its residential redevelopment efforts west of North Orange Street for the first time.

The property sits across the street from the Residences at Mid-Town, a $75 million, luxury apartment complex under construction at the former site of the Mid-Town Parking Garage.

Also being developed by BPG, that project will include 200 apartments in two buildings, 12,000 square feet of retail space and an underground parking garage with more than 500 spaces.

While BPG completed the purchase of its three new properties in the last few weeks, the developer has been eyeing the buildings for nearly a year.

All three redevelopment projects announced by BPG this week were awarded funding from the Downtown Development Districts program months earlier.

Created in 2014, the initiative seeks to revitalize central corridors blighted by crime, vacant buildings and economic stagnation. Private investors in those districts can receive up to 20 percent of eligible construction costs in the form of rebates awarded after their projects are completed.

The project at 829 N. Market St. was approved for up to $385,000 in rebates in February, while the projects on Seventh and Ninth streets were approved for a combined $797,000 in May.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Buccini/Pollin Group as the owner of the Hotel du Pont. Despite bids for the property, the hotel remains under ownership of DuPont Co.

Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.