PA/NJ/DE CCIM Chapter

Chapter Tours Univ. of Delaware STAR Campus in Development

Once again the PA/NJ/DE CCIM Chapter had an early invitation to visit a major development in our region.  25 CCIMs and guests met for lunch and a tour of University of Delaware’s new STAR Campus. The focus of the campus is Science Technology and Advanced Research (STAR). The development is in located on the site of Chrysler’s former plant in Newark, DE.  The total site is approximately 272 acres and is in early stages of development.  The main building fronting on RT-896 is part of the former Chrysler facility that has been repurposed, and is now home to the University of Delaware’s College of Health Science which offers a state-of-the-art-facility and cutting-edge technology to its students as well as an active patient facility operated by the University and third-party medical companies.  Coming out of the ground and near completion is a 10 story Star-shaped building that will be used by the University, partners and third-party tenants.  Bloom Energy was the first tenant for the project and maintains its facility on the campus along Route 4.  Construction is underway on a $50 million train station and track renovation project. Both Amtrak and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) are expected to increase service to the station, where both rail operators already offer semi-limited daily service.

In partnership with University of Delaware, The Chemours Discovery Hub will conduct cutting edge research focused on new process, product, and application development to better meet customer and market needs.  Construction on the new 312,000-square-foot facility, representing an investment of approximately $150 million, is expected to be completed by early 2020

The University has also announced its plans for construction of a six-story, $156 million Biopharmaceutical Innovation Building.

It will be a gateway, University officials hope, to a major role for Delaware in the emerging biopharmaceutical sector, where scientists and innovators will tackle some of the world’s most vexing diseases: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes and cancer (to name a few) and help to train a world-class workforce.

We want to thank Mike Smith and the entire staff at the STAR campus for providing the tour and insights to our group. A full view of the master plan is published online at:

http://www1.udel.edu/star/downloads/16_0111-Revised-Master-Plan-JUNE%202017.pdf