The national brands and growing developments taking root in Delaware in 2021 and beyond

Here is a look at some of the development projects Delaware Online/The News Journal has reported on this year and will be tracking in 2021.

This list is not comprehensive, but rather a roundup of highlights of what could be coming soon to Delaware.

Those interested in following the comings and goings of local business in the First State may want to join Delaware Online's Facebook group What's Going There in Delaware. The group is designed to provide regular updates on projects throughout the year. 

New Castle County

Bear/Glasgow

Amazon warehouse

With increased demand during the pandemic, Amazon is expanding with a new 1.3 million-square-foot warehouse near Bear, the Delaware Business Times reported in October. The warehouse is being developed off Route 13 in place of a former UPS customer service center and the former Blue Diamond amusement park, with plans to open in 2021.

La Grange development

New Castle County Council in October approved a plan to build a shopping center along Route 40 in Glasgow near the historic Samuel Henry Black house. The village-style center will feature six buildings, two of which will likely be filled by AutoZone and Taco Bell. The project's developer hopes to complete construction by mid-to-late 2021.

Lidl

In August, the German grocery store chain listed its future location at Pulaski Highway and Salem Church Road as one of 50 new stores in the U.S. that the company expects to open by the end of 2021. The 30,000-square-foot store, occupying space previously used by Countryside Nursery and Garden Center, received county approval in May.

Brandywine Hundred

Brandywine Country Club housing development

Capano Residential is planning to build 365 single-family homes and apartments at the former Brandywine Country Club between Concord Pike and Shipley Road. The plan, which still requires New Castle County approval, is smaller in scope than previous proposals for the golf course, which closed in 2015.

Claymont

First State Crossing

A plan is in the works to redevelop the 425-acre former Evraz steel mill on Route 13 into a large mixed-use property centered around a new Claymont train station. Preliminary plans submitted to New Castle County in July show nearly 60,000 square feet of retail space, including a grocery store and a convenience store, 184,000 square feet of office space and six four-story residential buildings.

Christiana

Cavaliers Country Club housing development

More than 700 homes will be built on the former Cavaliers Country Club property just north of the Christiana Mall south of Churchmans Road. Years in the making, the project faced several hurdles through the approval process. Nearby residents voiced several concerns, mostly centered around increased traffic.

Homewood Suites at Delaware Park 

Plans were approved in 2019 for a 133-room, four-story Homewood Suites just inside Delaware Park's entrance off Ogletown Stanton Road and Churchmans Road near Stanton. 

Trader Joe's

According to New Castle County permits, the grocery store chain is preparing to open a second Delaware store in place of the former Saks Off 5th in the Christiana Fashion Center. Renovation work began in November. Trader Joe's and Allied Properties, which operates the shopping center, have not commented on the store.

Delaware City

RV park and campground on Fort DuPont

Spearheaded by a quasi-public body created by state lawmakers in 2014, a redevelopment of Fort DuPont State Park along the banks of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, featuring an RV park, apartments, townhouses and more, won approval with a few stipulations at a city council meeting earlier this month.

Fairfax

Avenue North

Developer Delle Donne & Associates is planning a 335-apartment development to accompany a hotel, fitness center and retail complex at the Fairfax campus once occupied entirely by AstraZeneca on Concord Pike.

Greenville

Hercules Country Club housing development

Roughly a decade after the Delaware National Country Club closed, 258 homes will be built on the former golf course, long known as Hercules Country Club, off Lancaster Pike near Greenville. Newport developer Greg Pettinaro has controlled the property for several years. The housing plan won approval in September. 

Wegmans

Pettinaro is redeveloping Barley Mill Plaza at Lancaster Pike and Route 141. His redevelopment plans, which received final approval in May prompting the beginning of demolition and construction, are centered around Delaware's first Wegmans. The grocery store is expected to open in 2022.

Kirkwood Highway

Chick-fil-A

A Chick-fil-A will be built on one of two new pad sites in place of the former Sears Auto Center in the Prices Corner shopping center. The other will be a Chase Bank.

Michael's

Michael's will fill in the former A.C. Moore on Kirkwood Highway, one of up to 40 A.C. Moore locations the competing arts and crafts retailer is taking over. It is expected to open early next year, according to a Michael's spokesperson.

Target

The company's fourth Delaware location, coming as part of a redevelopment project at the Prices Corner shopping center, is expected to open in spring 2021, according to Arrow Real Estate Services. The exterior of the store, which took the place of the former Sears, appears near completion.

Middletown

Bayberry Town Center

A shopping center with close to 250,000 square feet of retail space, 145 adjacent townhomes and office space is being planned at the Bayberry communities in Middletown. The project won approval in June.

Breakthru Beverage

The wine, spirits and beer distributor will build a new facility in Middletown to replace its existing property on Churchmans Road near New Castle. It expects the new facility to open late next year. The facility will be located on Industrial Drive near Middletown's Amazon fulfillment center and Route 301.

Fairfield Inn & Suites

The 89-room hotel at Merrimac Avenue and Middletown-Warwick Road was slated to open in 2021 when first announced in 2019. The hotel's developer now says it will open in 2022. The hotel will be Middletown's third.

Historic firehouse mixed-use building

A developer wants to build a four-story retail and apartment building at 14 S. Broad St. in place of a decades-old firehouse, the Delaware Business Times reported in August. The developer told the outlet there is no timetable for the project's completion.

Southern New Castle County library

Construction crews broke ground for a new 28,000-square-foot library near Silver Lake Park earlier this year. It is expected to open in 2022. With costs estimated at $25 million, the library will be one of the largest in Delaware and has been touted by officials as one of the county's most environmentally friendly buildings.

Newark

Center Square redevelopment

Lang Development in April submitted plans to build a new structure at 124 E. Main St. with retail space, a parking garage and 58 residential units. The building currently on the property – known as Center Square – houses Walgreens, Homegrown and 14 apartments. The plan is in preliminary stages of the approval process.

College Square shopping center

The shopping center off Library Avenue is being transformed into a walkable mixed-use community with shops, restaurants and more than 300 apartments.

Dickinson apartments and townhomes

A Pennsylvania developer is building 45 apartments and 46 townhomes targeted at students in place of the now-demolished University of Delaware Dickinson dormitories. Scheduled to open before the coming academic year, the complex features two-, three- and four-bedroom units. It will be called the Rail Yard.

FinTech building on the University of Delaware STAR Campus

Bringing together startups managed by Delaware Technology Park and labs and research centers for the university's business and engineering schools, the financial services technology building is the latest expansion of the school's Science, Technology and Advanced Research Campus. Construction began in April and is projected to last through November.

Fulton Bank mixed-use building

A three-story mixed-use building with retail space and 30 apartments is being built in place of the longtime Fulton Bank toward the north end of Main Street. The bank will return on the ground floor of the building.

Hyatt hotel

Construction of a seven-story, 144-room Hyatt hotel incorporating the facade of the historic Green Mansion began with demolition of the former Abbott's Shoe Repair in November 2019, but no significant construction progress seems to have occurred since. The developer, Lang Development, has not updated the timetable for the project.

Mixed-use building at 132 E. Main St.

Developer George Danneman is proposing a five-story mixed-use building with retail space and 33 apartments at 132 E. Main St. The property now features Tasty Wok, Playa Bowls and the former Margherita's Pizza on the ground floor and a few apartments above. The proposal has not been approved.

Renaissance-style mixed-use building at 141 E. Main St.

The Newark planning commission earlier this month recommended approving a six-story building with retail, apartments and a parking garage on Main Street where Duck Donuts, Del-One Federal Credit Union and Starbucks are located. The proposal still needs city council approval.

Stormwater facility and park

A state-of-the-art stormwater facility designed to maintain clean water and lessen flooding in Newark is being built along Hillside Road where UD's Rodney dormitories stood for about 50 years. The roughly $9 million project, which also includes a park built around the stormwater facility, was originally slated to be completed in November. Officials now say the park will open in spring 2021.

Super 8 apartments

The owner of the Super 8 on Newark's Main Street is proposing replacing the hotel with a five-story building featuring a restaurant and 56 apartments. The plan requires a rezoning from city council among other approvals.

New Castle

Former Dutch Inn

A Chick-fil-A and a Starbucks are taking the place of the former Dutch Inn on Route 13 near New Castle. Chick-fil-A plans to open the new store at some point in 2021. Starbucks did not respond to requests for comment.

Newport

Amazon warehouse

An Amazon logistics warehouse is being built near Newport at the former General Motors plant site on Boxwood Road. The company says it will hire about 1,000 full-time employees for the warehouse. Amazon expects to launch the site in late 2021 or early 2022.

Pike Creek

Pike Creek Shopping Center

More than half of the shopping center's former Kmart will be demolished to make way for several new businesses, including an auto center and a convenience store with gas pumps, according to plans filed in June. A spokesperson for the center's owner declined to share further information about the project when the plans were filed.

Wilmington

Incyte

The company continues to expand its footprint at its Alapocas headquarters. It purchased 20 acres from Wilmington Friends school for $50 million last year for a future expansion and has a six-story lab and office building in the works.

Kent County

Dover

Hatteras Hills

A plan is in the works to build 258 single-family homes in an age-restricted subdivsion on the west side of Clapham Road and south of Sophers Row south of Magnolia.

U.S. Corrugated

In October, Delaware approved a $3.1 million taxpayer grant for U.S. Corrugated, a Texas-based cardboard box manufacturing company, to build an $80 million manufacturing plant in Dover along the POW-MIA Parkway.

Smyrna

Duck Creek Business Campus

The new facility, which could house more than 4,000 workers, will be built in Smyrna between Route 13 and Route 1 near DelDOT's Transportation Management Center. The project celebrated a groundbreaking in November. When announced in 2018, officials said the campus could be developed in the next 20 years.

NKS Distributors

The alcohol distributor is building a new headquarters south of Smyrna on Big Woods Road between Route 1 and Route 13 by spring 2022, the Delaware Business Times reported in July. The new facility will replace the company's warehouses off Churchmans Road near New Castle and in Milford, DBT reported.

Milford

Microtel Inn & Suites Milford

A Microtel, Wyndam's "economy" brand, is being built on Silicato Parkway off Route 1 in Milford near Royal Farms and Grotto Pizza.

Sussex County

Fenwick Island

Old Mill Landing

A total of 277 single-family homes on 283 acres along Old Mill Bridge and Millers Neck Roads between Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island were approved earlier this year, the Cape Gazette reported.

Georgetown

County Seat RV Resort

Sussex County Council in November approved a project that will bring an RV resort to the site of the former Georgetown Raceway. The 73-acre parcel will feature more than 300 RV camper sites, 46 cabins, a pool and multiple sports fields, according to plans submitted to Sussex County.

Lewes/Rehoboth Beach

Bellhaven hotel

For more than a year, the owners of the property at 2 Rehoboth Ave. have sought to build a hotel. The most recent version of the hotel to go before city officials for approval called for 103 rooms and 104 parking spaces with no ground level retail. The project still needs approval.

Hyatt House hotel

A 105-room hotel is being built near the intersection of Route 1 and Marsh Road near Five Points Square. It will be a Hyatt House, the company's extended stay brand offering suite rooms with kitchenettes. It is expected to open next summer.

Tanger Fitness Center

A fitness center is likely coming to Rehoboth Beach near the Tanger Outlets off Coastal Highway and Holland Glade Road. The developer is also proposing a 77-bedroom hotel on the same property.

Tower Hill subdivision

Close to 300 single-family homes will be built along New and Lynn roads off Route 1 near Lewes. Sussex County approved the project late this summer. It's one of several housing projects approved near Lewes in recent years.

Millsboro/Long Neck

Keastone Bay

The Keastone Bay subdivision will bring 651 homes to the Millsboro-Long Neck area on 310 acres off Route 24 behind Baywood Greens.

Milton

Milton Attainable Housing

Developer Preston Schell and Big Fish Restaurant Group co-founder Eric Sugrue have proposed a mixed-use development at Route 16 and Country Road in Milton featuring 239 housing units and four commercial pad sites. Schell told the Cape Gazette in November he estimates the timetable for completion is nine to 12 months.

Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @holveck_brandon.