DELAWARE — PPG Industries isn’t the only one building new space in Delaware’s industrial park.
A total of 255,000 square feet of industrial flex space via three spec buildings is either nearly complete or about to break ground.
Newmark’s Airport Business Center, 115 Innovation Ct., will feature twin buildings, each with 100,000 square feet of space on a total of 13.06 acres.
The project is estimated to cost $12.7 million per building.
City of Delaware Economic Development Director Nic Langford anticipates crews will break ground in Q3 2026.
In addition, Pioneer Development’s Pittsburgh Flex Center, 2044 Pittsburgh Dr., will feature one 55,000-square-foot building on a total of 19 acres. The company estimates construction will wrap up later this month.
Managing partner at Pioneer Development, Aamer Patel, told Delaware Source the project’s budget is $7.9 million.
So, what’s the need for these new developments, and how do they affect the current businesses in the industrial park? Here’s a breakdown.
Expansion flexibility
Since Delaware’s industrial park is so robust and features a lot of growing companies, not being open to expansion can be detrimental.
“If you’re not adding more adjacent space for headcount, production, warehousing, research and development, office, then eventually companies are going to become kind of strangled and look to leave the market,” Langford said.
With all three new buildings being industrial flex spaces, developers have not structured them for a specific tenant or company.
“[The buildings] could be some warehouse space, some warehouse space with office, one tenant could come along and take the entire thing,” Langford said.
“Or, you could have it broken up into up to 11 different, divisible sections [in the Pittsburgh Flex Center] and have 11 businesses in there.”
For reference, Luvata Ohio currently occupies half of a 130,000 square-foot flex space building in the industrial park, across the street from Pioneer Development’s project.
Langford has worked with developers, the state of Ohio and current businesses in the industrial park to find tenants, but nobody will know definite occupants until the buildings are constructed.
“What’s important is to have this kind of product constantly on the market because we’re constantly competing for new businesses,” Langford added.
Supporting existing stock
New businesses and new tenants aside, these new buildings are also available for current businesses to expand into.
“I’d say even more importantly, our businesses that are expanding in the industrial park need that space,” Langford said.
Not having new spaces like these flex buildings can bar an existing companies’ possible expansions because they’re landlocked, or a landlord may not allow a building addition.
“We’re kind of unique in this area because people are building spec buildings and putting things up,” Langford continued. “So, we might have a company that’s using some of these new buildings as warehouse space.
“But it also means that they’re typically opening up a new production line for their existing building and are moving their finished goods and products out for shipping to a more traditional warehouse.”
This, in turn, can add jobs to a company’s existing facility and create more space for the company’s finished product, Langford explained.
To read more about Newmark’s twin buildings at Airport Business Center, check out the link below.
