MidAtlantic City Scoop: Construction Starts in Wilmington

City Scoop: Wilmington — The nonresidential and non-building sectors are projected to weaken next year. Slight growth is forecast for residential and highway/ bridge work.

Demand for lab space in the Wilmington area continues to drive the construction market. Bancroft is currently working on the $5.2-million Delaware Innovation Space Incubator.

*PHOTO BY JAY GREENE PHOTOGRAPHY, COURTESY BANCROFT CONSTRUCTION CO.*

The firm is currently performing work on a pool and fitness facility at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington.

*PHOTO BY EYE IN THE SKY STUDIOS, COURTESY CORRADO CONSTRUCTION CO.*

City Grill

Greg Sawka
President & CEO
Bancroft Construction Co.

Wilmington’s science and technology sector continues to demand flexible lab space for start-ups, Sawka says. Organizations such as the Delaware Prosperity Partnership are recruiting, retaining and assisting life science firms with the aim of getting them to move into the area. The start-ups rely on leased labs that help them “bring their ideas to life,” Sawka says.

Bancroft was serving as construction manager for the nearly completed Delaware Innovation Space Incubator in Wilmington at ENR MidAtlantic press time. The $5.2-million, 15,000-sq-ft renovation of two floors of a building in the DuPont Experimental Station includes wet labs and tenant workstations. Other features are a shared equipment room, huddle room, phone room, break room/kitchen and spectroscopy and chromatography rooms.

Sawka says Wilmington’s health care and higher education sectors are also “thriving,” as are mixed-use, multifamily residential and student housing projects. Bancroft increased employment by approximately 10% in the last three years. Sawka says the firm pursued or was introduced this year to about $1.3 billion in potential work in the Delmarva peninsula and suburban Philadelphia. “Of those opportunities, approximately 25% have been in New Castle County,” Sawka says.

Firm in Focus

Corrado Construction Co.
210 Marsh Lane, New Castle, Del.
President: Joe Corrado Jr.
Employees: 104
Founded: 2006
What’s New: The firm is currently performing work on a pool and fitness facility at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington. The $18-million renovation, which is expected to be completed in September 2020, includes demolition of existing tennis courts and buildings, demolition of underground utilities, installation of new underground utilities and the addition of two swimming pools and a 17,000-sq-ft fitness center. The merit-shop site development firm also offers design-build teaming, value engineering, cost analysis, constructibility assessments and project sequencing in the commercial, industrial, institutional, residential and mixed-use sectors. The family-run company is led by its third generation president. The firm’s client list includes Amazon, Walmart, Waste Management, Lowe’s, FedEx and multiple other Fortune 500 firms.