MILFORD — Infrastructure installation is proceeding at the Milford Corporate Center site, and the city is beginning to court buyers for its 27 available lots.
To that end, the partner in the project, NAI Emory Hill, has paid for a billboard near Del. 1 that highlights the spaces for sale. And there’s been a lot of interest, Lauren Swain, the city’s economic development and community engagement administrator, said Aug. 25.
“An advantage of Milford Corporate Center is that the site is already zoned and entitled for business use, allowing companies to avoid the time and expense associated with lengthy rezoning processes,” she added.
The $18 million project sprang from Milford’s “Vision 2023” strategic plan, initiated in 2017. The city bought the 180-acre site at Del. 14 and Del. 15, which otherwise might have been used for a development of more than 1,000 homes.
Municipal officials, along with state legislators and Gov. Matt Meyer, broke ground for the corporate center March 4, 2025. City leaders hope the campus will eventually create about 1,300 jobs.
“Today, we march forth to a future Milford that is very different from its past,” Meyer said at the ceremony. “It’s important that we change and we grow.”
With the exception of some final “punch list” items, the first phase of infrastructure construction should be finished by the end of September.
“The site contractor is completing surface course paving of the internal roads (and) planting the remaining trees, the city Electric Department is installing electric infrastructure, and the sanitary sewer pump station is nearing completion and a startup inspection,” Swain said.
Meantime, the Delaware Department of Transportation required the city to install a roundabout at Del.14-Del. 15, near the center’s entrance. It opened April 28 after a series of weather-related delays and is working as designed, she added.
As part of its plan approval, DelDOT is also requiring a roundabout at Del. 15 and Church Hill Road, construction which has yet to begin, she said.
Properties in the Milford Corporate Center — which measure 3.2-8.4 acres — are zoned business park and limited industrial. Swain explained that lots in the latter zone can have offices for banks, corporations and professional services; technical and research/data centers; and emergency service facilities.
Moving forward, the Kent Economic Partnership will assist the city with promoting the complex, its executive director, Linda Parkowski, said Tuesday, Sept. 1.
“If a good, strong lead comes in and is looking for what the industrial park can offer, we’ll arrange a site visit, help them negotiate and (aid) with any regulatory issues they may have,” she said.
Parkowski expressed optimism about the facility’s value to the city.
“I think it’s going to be a real benefit for Milford,” she continued. “Right now, without the corporate center, they’re basically out of industrial space to attract other businesses. They really needed to put together that industrial park, and I give them a lot of credit for doing that.”