Avenue North is getting a restaurant that plans on having outdoor music. (Ken Mammarella photo)

Neighbors debate outdoor music at Avenue North restaurant

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

Residents of North Wilmington are making their voices heard about a proposal to allow a restaurant liquor license that includes speakers and live entertainment on the patio. The restaurant is the Blackwall Barn & Lodge, planned for Avenue North, the multi-use complex being developed on the old Astra Zeneca operations at Concord Pike and Murphy Road. IN THE NEWS: Pedestrian/bicyclist …

carney jones-potter wilmington mayoral race

Jones-Potter expects to face status quo in Wilmington mayor race

Karl BakerGovernment, Headlines

This story was originally published on Spotlight Delaware.  In 2017, then-newly elected Mayor Mike Purzycki sat on a stage close by to Velda Jones-Potter as she gave her inaugural speech as Wilmington City Treasurer. The two held an amicable relationship at the time, Jones Potter said – with both of them new to being elected politicians and facing a city that …

Pettinaro Management is donating 30 acres on the west side of Hercules Road in Mill Creek to New Castle County for a park. Ken Mammarella photo.

Exclusive: 30-acre park off Hercules Road in the works

Ken MammarellaCulture, Headlines

New Castle County is on its way to being given 30 acres for a park in the Mill Creek area. The land is part of a country club known as Hercules when it opened in 1937 (that’s why the road it’s on is called Hercules Road) and then Delaware National before being sold, with housing planned. “The project was approved …

The Friendly’s restaurant in the Brandywine Town Center is closing. Restaurants in Glasgow, Hockessin and Middletown remain. (Friendly's)

Friendly’s in Brandywine Town Center closing

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

The Friendly’s restaurant in the Brandywine Town Center is closing, James Phipps’ post in the Take Back Claymont group on Facebook read, and the first two responses were simply “Wow” and “Whatttttt.” The news was confirmed an hour later by Betty Baudoux. “I stopped there tonight … [and wished] the hostess n waitress well. They told me n a friend …

Construction equipment at work on a new multi-use development called Forwood Commons. (Ken Mammarella photo)

Land cleared for multi-use Silverside Road development

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

Development has finally begun on the site of what was the oldest building built for free public education in the United States. The Forwood School, which was built before 1800, was knocked down months ago, and plans are to use its stones in a leasing center. The development is on 11.7 acres in the heart of Brandywine Hundred, on Silverside …

Incyte needs various government approvals to expand its campus along Augustine Cut-Off, just north of Wilmington. (Julie Zorach photo)

Neighbors to Incyte: Don’t expand in Alapocas

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

Neighbors opposing expansion by Incyte have raised the typical concerns about nearby development – increased traffic and decreased property values – if the biopharmaceutical company gets approval to expand its Alapocas campus. Uniting as Neighbors for Responsible Land Use, they’re also concerned about the noise and dirt during construction, the trees that would die, the wildlife habitat that would be …

February 2023 Plan 6

Brandywine Town Center redevelopment tweaked

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

Community feedback has inspired tweaks to plans to redevelop the Brandywine Town Center. “They want to elevate the look, the feel and the offerings” in the area closest to Naamans Road, said Mike Hoffman, of Tarabicos, Grosso & Hoffman, the Delaware land use attorney for the Acadia Realty Trust. “It should be the front door and the heart of the …

The upcoming home of Tri-State Liquors will still be on the Tri-State Mall site. (courtesy of Andrew Byer)

One store’s still standing at Tri-State Mall

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

The news coverage of what’s happening at the old Tri-State Mall (which closed in 2015, leaving a small strip shopping center still running) has largely ignored a store that’s thrived there since 1984. Tri-State Liquors is still in business, as several signs on chain link fencing along Naamans Road proclaim, and it’s planning to move soon across the parking lot to …

The Newark library (New Castle County photo)

New 2-story Newark library to be built on same site

Ken MammarellaGovernment, Headlines

New Castle County has decided to update the Newark Free Library on the same site. The new, two-story building will have 50% more interior space, and there will be 80% more parking, Diana Brown, manager of the county’s 10 libraries, said this week. “Details of what will be inside will be developed with public hearings this year,” Out & About …

This map spells out the plan for the First State Crossing warehouse.

Warehouse announced on 28 acres in First State Crossing

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

A developer has sold 28 acres in First State Crossing, a multiuse Claymont site that once housed a steel plant, and the buyer will build a 358,000-square-feet warehouse there. First Industrial Realty Trust is planning a rear-load facility with 68 dock door positions, a 40-foot clear height and parking for 241 trailers and 289 cars. The land is on the …