Delaware News Journal
Duck Creek Business Campus in Smyrna has progressed in the past few months, signing new tenants and planning significant expansions.
The industrial park’s location in southern New Castle County has shown significant interest. It marks a new pattern emerging for the regions located farther from the I-95 corridor.
Duck Creek Business Campus
Duck Creek Business Campus is located on a 212-acre site on DuPont Parkway, to the west of U.S. Route 1 and east of Route 13, built by Maryland-based KRM Development and leased by JLL.
Construction on the campus began in 2018 and broke ground on the first building in November, 2020.
Jeremy Rothwell, Smyrna’s senior planner, said in 2021 that the town invested millions of dollars to extend water, sewer and electric utilities, which will be partially recovered by the collection of impact fees from businesses that move in.
In April, JLL announced that Wesco, a maintenance, repair and operational company, signed a lease for 67,000 square feet of industrial outdoor storage space and that Hydroponics to You LLC, which supplies hydroponic supplies and indoor gardening equipment, signed for 49,000 square feet of space located at 321 Riehm Blvd.
“These most recent leases at Duck Creek demonstrate the scale of the project and is a testament to the strength and momentum of Delaware’s market,” said Jamie Vari, senior vice president of JLL. “With KRM’s proven expertise driving this development, future tenants have an unparalleled opportunity to secure a truly custom, state-of-the-art space designed for growth and innovation. KRM has been a steadfast partner, and we’re thrilled to bring the remaining buildings to market.”
According to Delaware Business Times, Procter & Gamble also leased space at the location for warehousing.
Expansion underway for business park
Vari said that ground has been broken on a 70,000-square-foot expansion of the original warehouse building and estimated its completion between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026.
The expansion will be the third building on Duck Creek’s campus and will be built speculatively by KRM – meaning no tenant is in mind yet for the space.
A fourth building spanning 91,700 square feet is also set to break ground in the first quarter of 2026, following the completion of the third expansion building’s construction.
Although negotiations reportedly are underway, no tenants have signed leases on the new sites yet.
When Duck Creek was first announced, a study from Salisbury University estimated that 4,000 jobs could be created at the site over the next 20 years. So far, growth to that number has been slow.
Procter & Gamble, for example, reportedly has around five employees working on the site it leases since it uses the space as a second location.
While Vari did not comment on the number of jobs created or projected for the future speculative sites, he believes the additional development will produce positive labor trends. KRM also has touted that the warehouse space will provide an increased tax base for the area, supporting local schools, businesses and attracting working families to the community.
JLL is also leasing for buildings at Western Sussex Business Campus, a new construction industrial park in Seaford.
The first two phases of the project each consist of 70,250 square feet of flex warehouse space. Leasing for the first building is underway, while construction on the second will begin later this year. Also developed by KRM, this multi-phase project is considered a “sister development” to Duck Creek.
Industrial success in southern New Castle County
For Delaware’s industrial industry, usually the economics of a project are determined by its vicinity to I-95, which leads to higher concentrations of warehouse projects in northern New Castle County.
Vacancy rates rose by 133 basis points in the Philadelphia region, including central and northeast Pennsylvania, Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, southern New Jersey and Delaware due, in part, to slower leasing activity.
Delaware has fared much better than its neighbors, however. According to research from Lee & Associates of Eastern Pennsylvania Delaware’s vacancy rate for large warehouses stands at just under 5%, a slight increase from the height of warehouse construction following the COVID-19 pandemic, but comparatively strong for the region.
“Overall, Delaware’s industrial market outlook hinges on the success of existing speculative projects and the regional competition for large tenants in the coming quarters,” the report said.
Building out an industrial park in Smyrna, slightly further from I-95, hasn’t seen the economic drop-off that may otherwise be expected.
According to Vari, rent rates for industrial spaces in Smyrna are competitive with northern New Castle County, and the location lends itself to a different type of market than other areas – appealing to industries looking for slightly more compact spaces.
“Southern New Castle County operates way differently than northern New Castle County,” Vari said. “We’ve been very successful in leasing 70-150,000 square foot buildings, which are speaking to a different crowd than some [larger] requirements.”
Molly McVety covers community and environmental issues around Delaware. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.