Newark, Del., is undergoing a transformation with multiple new projects, including a revamped library, mixed-use housing complexes, eateries at The Grove, student apartments, and office buildings blending into the neighborhood.
Newark, Del., with its ever-expanding student population, has been busy reshaping the future of the city and its central business corridor.
In 2024 alone, the city's development calendar will be filled to the brim.
So far this year, that has meant several big efforts, including mixed-use housing projects, main street businesses, a swanky new library and a host of plans for The Grove, located at the former College Square shopping center on the east side of town.
Below are just some of the newly announced or approved projects coming to Newark in the coming months, as reported by the Delaware News Journal in New Castle on July 29.
Newark Free Library Plans Approved
The heady plans for a new Newark Free Library top the local news as far as how the proposal will transform the eastern gateway to the city's central business district. In early July, municipal officials approved the ambitious designs for the facility after a year of community meetings and feedback sessions.
Also shaping the council's enthusiasm may be the fact that the nearly $44 million construction cost came almost entirely from state and county coffers, along with some private fundraising.
Designed by Quinn Evans, a nationally lauded architecture firm, the new library will be 50 percent bigger than the old one and encompass activities far beyond traditional "quiet" libraries, including dedicated zones for teens, craft and game centers, a 162-seat performance hall and plenty of outdoor space.
The library will undergo construction starting next year, and officially open its doors in late 2026.
The Grove at Newark Adding More Stores, Eateries
The Grove at Newark, a massive location off Library Avenue, is at the renovated College Square shopping center. It continues to fill its available spaces with stores, restaurants and other consumer stops, according to the News Journal.
At the site of a former Pep Boys, a Starbucks has recently opened next to breakfast chain First Watch, which proceeded it last December. A local Mexican chain restaurant called Del Pez has been delayed but is still slated to open this fall. Another eatery that plans to begin welcoming patrons later in 2024 is the Turkiye Kebab House.
Among the larger tenants at The Grove is Crunch Fitness, a gym that celebrated its grand opening in late June and takes up a portion of the former Sears Hardware store.
Construction is due to get under way on Lefty's Alley and Eats, a popular bowling alley and family entertainment center in Lewes, at a new location on the shopping complex's south end.
Meanwhile, The Picklr, an indoor pickleball venue, is aiming to open its doors in the first half of 2025, the News Journal reported July 29. The facility's special use permit was approved at the Newark City Council in early July.
Among the other businesses announced or rumored to begin operations at The Grove are Philadelphia-based 1950s diner Nifty Fifty's, the golf-simulator venue X-Golf, ice cream chain Coldstone Creamery and Smoothie King.
80-Unit Apartment Building to House Students
After a development saga spanning four years and multiple failed proposals, a former Newark Burger King will become the site of a mixed-use, 80-apartment complex designed to house the city's ever-growing population of University of Delaware (UD) student renters.
The new development will nonetheless generate less traffic than the former Burger King on the 1.33-acre site at South Chapel Street and Delaware Avenue, its developer, Lang Development Group, told the city's planning commission in May.
In recent weeks, the Newark City Council gave those plans its final stamp of approval, clearing the way for Lang to erect two five-story apartment towers, with 3,400 sq. ft. of first-floor commercial space that will likely be split among several tenants.
Previous proposals by Lang had been stymied after community and council resistance to a seven-story building proposed on the downtown property. Newark regulations now cap new developments at five stories, and design guidelines call for outdoor plazas — a feature that also will be included at the new mixed-use development.
Since 2019, the site has been a pay-for-use parking lot. The new designs call for 87 parking spaces in both underground and surface lots.
Larger Student Housing Also Under Way Across Street
The News Journal noted that diagonally across the street from the Lang project, a wrecking ball arrived in late July to make way for a new six-story, 190-unit apartment complex at 65 S. Chapel St.
Tsionas Management, one of Newark's top development firms, began dismantling multiple blocks of townhomes for an ambitious project called The Continental, designed to include a 511-space internal parking garage.
The project is "unapologetically huge," according to the newspaper, with a footprint of 85,759 sq. ft. and a gross floor area totaling 536,292 sq. ft.
First proposed in 2023, The Continental underwent a few revisions before getting a greenlight from the city council last May. Once in hand, Tsionas wasted little time preparing the site for the needed demolition.
Former Pizzeria On Main Street May Convert to Apartments
In addition to its efforts on South Chapel Street, Tsionas has proposed demolishing a longtime restaurant on South Main Street and constructing a five-story apartment building in its place.
That structure would be the latest in a string of apartment and condominium projects on the former Elkton Road at the edge of the UD campus. The building would replace Pat's Pizzeria and Barley Whiskey Bar, which closed last year.
The proposal, first filed last September, also includes a two-story addition to the neighboring apartment building at 136 S. Main St., which is owned and operated by Tsionas.
The developer is calling for a building encompassing 40 two-bedroom apartments and 1,600 sq. ft. of commercial space on the bottom floor, while the three-story structure next door would get another two stories of studio apartments.
Proposed Newark Office Buildings to Look Like Houses
Allura Bath and Kitchen, a Newark-area renovation firm, came before the city's planning commission recently with a proposal to put their new offices at the edge of the Windy Hills residential neighborhood at 515 Capitol Trail.
Currently, a single home rests on the property, which measures more than an acre of lawn and flood plain. The mostly verdant residential-zoned plot sits next to houses on one side, and a small professional complex on the other, according to the News Journal.
As a result of the zoning restrictions, Allura arrived at an interesting compromise during its meeting with city planners. It presented plans designed to accommodate the neighborhood's residential character while still allowing the company to expand into new offices to accommodate Allura's growing business: The offices would look just like houses.
Allura's renderings showed two 2,500-sq.-ft. offices that mimic family homes decked out with porticoed patios, arched-front windows, and A-frame roofs. Tucked behind the "homes" would be two big storage garages, totaling more than 8,000 sq. ft.
The presentation succeeded in swaying the planning commission in Allura's favor, the local newspaper reported, and recommended that the project be allowed with minimal revisions — pending the Newark City Council's approval.
Two New Wawa Stores May Face Each Other Near I-95
The Delaware News Journal reported that previously discarded plans for a new Wawa store in Newark have returned in a much different form.
According to a special use permit application filed earlier this summer with the city, developers plan to build a 6,000-sq.-ft., stand-alone Wawa without gas pumps at the site of a former Boston Market at 1050 S. College Ave., just north of the Interstate 95 interchange.
If approved, College Avenue would likely end up with a Wawa store on each side of the street to greet both northbound and southbound I-95 traffic.
The planned Wawa on the east side of the road, with a store and 10 gas pumps at 1115 College Ave, was approved back in January.
On the west side of South College Avenue, developers now hope to raze the former Boston Market and replace it with a hefty 5,915-sq.-ft. Wawa store without drive-thru lanes or a gas station.
To make this happen, the latter facility would need a variance from Newark that includes a large Wawa sign as well as smaller traffic islands and fewer shade trees on the parking lot than the city's code currently permits.
About 9,000 sq. ft. of the property would be open space, with about 1,400 sq. ft. of wooded area.
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