Mayor Mike Purzycki, Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA), and other state and community partners are coming together to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Downtown Development District Program and the City of Wilmington’s successful renewal for another five years.
The Downtown Development District Program (DDD), passed by the 147th General Assembly in 2014, was created to:
- Spur private capital investment in commercial businesses and other neighborhoods
- Stimulate job growth and improve commercial vitality
- Help build a stable community of long-term residents
Governor John Carney States, “The Downtown Development Districts Act has spurred investments and renovations in communities across the First State over the past ten years. I’m proud of how this program has grown, and the impact it has had on Delaware’s cities, towns, and residents. I want to thank the Delaware State Housing Authority, our municipalities, our investors, and all of our partners who have helped make this program so successful.”
The City of Wilmington was one of the first municipalities to receive DDD designation in 2015, and since then, completed projects have produced over:
- 1,200 new residential units
- 688 new jobs
- 29 retail businesses
- 5 entertainment options
- three hotels with 254 hotel rooms
The projects above were funded with over $400 million in private investment resulting in $24 million in DDD rebates to qualified investors. Today, the City’s DDD designation application was renewed for another five years.
“This has been a game changer in many ways, enabling us to revitalize and transform our downtown in ways that were hardly imaginable before 2015. Market Street, in particular, has finally arrived and is showing off its immense potential. And in addition to the many new businesses that have opened in that time span, with the hundreds of jobs they’ve created, there are now thousands of people living downtown, which has not only helped to expand our tax base but has created a sense of vitality and excitement that continues to spread throughout the entire City,” said Mayor Purzycki.
