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Development lots are available.Be a part of city history.

We’re building on Wilmington’s rich history to empower a thriving future.

Where we are:

Where we’re headed:

Visualization of Developed Riverfront East

Available Lots

The map below shows proposed areas for residential, office, retail and parking space.

Live. Work. Play.

An office park. A residential neighborhood. A public riverwalk. A bustling retail district.

It can take years, even decades, for areas within cities to become a perfect symbiotic mix of uses that has something for everyone—a place for living, working, playing and more.

Just like Riverfront West, Riverfront East is not a project for a “few years,” but instead is a truly transformative initiative that will continually evolve to empower a thriving, sustainable future for the city, region and state.

Once completed, it will feel as though it’s been here all along. The potential certainly has.

million sq. ft.of office space

million sq. ft.of residential space

thousand sq. ft.of retail space

structuredparking spaces

spaces ofon-street parking

keyparks

“

What had been two vast, unused brownfields on either side of the River will soon be united in one transformative community that will change the way people live and work in Wilmington, drive economic growth, create good jobs, and improve quality of life for all Delawareans.”

—Delaware Governor John Carney

Getting to Riverfront East

The site is easily accessed by most forms of transportation. The ability of residents, commuters and visitors to come and go as they please fosters a sense of connection with the entire community of Wilmington—as well as Delaware and the surrounding region.

By Car

The two main arteries around which Riverfront East will be developed—South Market Street and South Walnut Street—offer direct connections between the site, the existing downtown section of Wilmington, and interstate routes 95 and 495.

Airports

Wilmington-New Castle Airport is less than five miles to the south, and Philadelphia International Airport is 23 miles to the north.

Bus and Shuttle

Nine DART bus lines have stops in the site, and additional stops are proposed as part of the city street-grid extension. Also in the works is a shuttle bus loop originating at the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station and stopping at regular intervals throughout the site.

SEPTA

The railroad station also serves SEPTA’s Wilmington/Newark line, connecting Wilmington to local stops in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Amtrak

Most of the site is within a 10-minute walk of the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station—one of the busiest stops along the northeast corridor, connecting Wilmington with Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and other cities in the Northeast.

Walkable Bridge and River Taxi

The River Taxi currently allows for quick travel up and down the Wilmington Riverfront, and a proposed new stop on the Riverfront East side will help to promote cross-river connectivity and bring the two sides together as part of a single entity.

Learning from the past …

What we’ve done so far: riverfront

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, there was a huge push by the city to rezone the banks of the Christina for mixed-use construction projects and capitalize on the potential for economic development that for decades lay untapped. This led to the creation of the Riverfront Development Corporation of Delaware, whose stewardship has transformed the west bank of the Christina River into a thriving and vibrant destination. With the west side being nearly fully occupied, it is time for us to begin the same type of transformation with Riverfront East, which will allow us to continue to build the economy.

A History of Industry

The Wilmington Riverfront was an epicenter of industry from the very founding of the city. This site in particular has been home to shipyards, carriage manufacturing, warehousing and lumberyards. But demand for shipbuilding declined following World War II, and by the 1970s, the banks of the Christina River lay nearly vacant, home only to scrapyards and a few remnants of its industrial past.

Environmental state

Today, the site looks much like it did in the 1970s—host to an assortment of abandoned industrial buildings, accessory structures, surface parking and former junkyards, with brownfields lining the waterfront. Along the river are marshy, inaccessible wetland conditions, and the low and high tides have created a mud flat along the north edge of the site. Species of vegetation at the site are indicative of disturbed lands, a hint at the site’s history as an industrial epicenter.

What we’ve done so far: riverfront

A History of Industry

Environmental state

What we’ve done so far: riverfront

… To better the future

Environmental

Of the plan’s 86 acres, 13.3 have been conceived as open public or green spaces, designed in a way that the site can expand in the future in a thoughtful, sustainable manner. The Riverfront East master plan suggests understory and meadow plantings comprising a wide variety of native species, and the proposed eastern shore continuation of the Wilmington Riverwalk has a series of “tidal intrusions” jutting out into the river—allowing the natural character of the river’s edge to become part of the development itself. Transformation of the development site is already underway, and once it’s complete, available lots will be turned over, fully remediated.

Economic

The Riverfront East project is engineered to empower personal and economic growth for present communities, while building strong foundations for continued progress for future generations. The project will create thousands of construction jobs, and once completed, Riverfront East will be a place of thriving businesses, diverse opportunities for all walks of life and further growth for the booming recreational and tourism industry that was sparked by the original Riverfront development.

Cultural

Riverfront East will not only mirror Riverfront West’s balance of life, work and play, but also become its own entity, full of unique experiences and historic charm. Its mix of uses promises to attract visitors—aided by the many transportation options connecting it to the region and beyond. Riverfront East will be a place that families with deep Wilmington roots, or those who are new to Delaware, will proudly call their home.

Environmental

Economic

Cultural

Environmental

“

We’re excited to move full speed ahead on this mission—one engineered to empower personal and economic growth, fulfillment, and achievement for present communities, while building the strong, sustainable foundations of continued progress for future generations.”

—Megan McGlinchey, Executive Director, Riverfront Development Corporation