Delaware’s business park on the city’s west side is set to expand with the approval of the Pittsburgh Drive Delaware Business Park by Delaware City Council.
During Monday’s meeting, council held the first reading of a combined preliminary and final development plan for the business park before voting to unanimously approve the ordinance.
The business park, proposed by Columbus-based RED Architecture and Planning, will encompass approximately 9.1 acres made up of two vacant parcels located south of Pittsburgh Drive and east of Section Line Road. A total of 84,480 square feet of building area will be constructed across four buildings. Two of the buildings will each span 24,160 square feet, while the other two buildings will each span 18,080 square feet.
According to city documents for the project proposal, the park is conceived as “speculative building to provide for a variety of uses primarily aimed at start-up, overflow, and/or growing business in the area.”
David Efaw, principal of RED Architecture and Planning, noted the buildings are planned to allow for “maximum flexibility” in the business types they serve. The proposed usage of the buildings includes a mixture of office space, warehouse storage, distribution facilities, and manufacturing and processing facilities.
City Manager Tom Homan said of the proposal, “This is a very good project for the community. It builds on the city’s existing business park and provides additional capacity for more employment opportunities within our city. It’s been identified by our city residents as wanting the jobs, wanting the employment base to grow, and this project helps to accomplish that. My hat’s off to the applicants, and my thanks to the (city) staff.”
In a memorandum to Planning and Community Development Director Dave Efland, Economic Development Director Sean Hughes said of the project, “This project will not only assist in providing much needed speculative building inventory in the city of Delaware but also will serve a particular niche for smaller spaces that are needed by small companies that are growing in our city.”
Hughes added the developer is committing to the creation of 102 full-time equivalent jobs with $2 million in new payroll at the site within three years of its occupancy.
“This will serve to increase the economic prosperity of the city of Delaware while also providing high-quality jobs and much-needed square footage,” he went on to say.
