Even as new home sales in Delaware continue to sag with the economy, Darley Green is a success story.
Town homes within the massive redevelopment project in the center of Claymont are selling fast, with developer Commonwealth-Setting having 26 of 32 constructed units under contract or sold.
Project Manager Don Robitzer said they are close to breaking ground on two new blocks to keep up with demand, including a unique block of stacked town homes - four-story units with two stacked two-story homes.
"We have a new, unique product in a place where nothing new has existed in decades," Robitzer said. "We're right near the Pennsylvania border, we're close to the train station, and we have an attractive tax situation to a lot of people. We're very attractive to young professionals."
Sixty percent of the buyers are new to Delaware, Robitzer said, and that's good news for
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Darley Green by the Numbers Units planned: 1,226 |
Claymont and New Castle County as a whole.
"The entire county is benefiting," said Councilman John Cartier (D-Penny Hill). "Soon we're going to be collecting more property taxes from that site than we ever did when it was still Brookview."
The Brookview Town Homes, rental housing that was razed in 2007 to make way for Darley Green, paid only $30,000 in annual property taxes.
“The Claymont Renaissance concluded that if the Brookview site was replaced with a high quality, innovative mix of town homes and luxury apartments, it would attract young professionals to our community," said Brett Saddler, executive director of the Claymont Renaissance Development Corporation. "The fact the sales numbers reflect this is great news. It would not be a stretch to say that Darley Green may be the best performing new residential community in the state."
