UD agrees to buy Chrysler site for $24 million

Ending months of speculation, the university has agreed to purchase the Chrysler Assembly Plant for $24.25 million, officials announced Friday.

The 272-acre property on South College Avenue will be used primarily for a research and technology park.

"The size of this parcel of land and its proximity to our main campus make this truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for the University of Delaware," university President Patrick Harker said in a statement.

Preliminary plans show the property split into three main areas of use: corporate partnerships for research and development activities, a medical partnership with Thomas Jefferson University and improved public transportation by expanding on the Amtrak station adjacent to the property.

University officials say the U.S. Army is a likely partner for the site. Due to a base realignment, Army facilities in Aberdeen, Md. will be growing substantially, and a university-owned Chrysler property, with its proximity to Aberdeen and available rail lines, is thought to be a suitable place to house supporting companies for the base.

Chrysler shut down operations of the plant in December 2008 and filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. In May, the university’s Board of Trustees authorized university officials to seek to buy the site.

The purchase of the site must be approved by a New York bankruptcy judge. It is not known how long that approval could take.

Once the university officially owns the property, it could take up to two years to demolish the existing building on the site, officials said.

If approved, the purchase will represent the single largest addition to the Newark campus in university history.

The Review will have complete coverage of the purchase of the Chrysler site in Tuesday's issue.

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2 comments

Mikael

Sun Oct 25 2009 10:56

I hope they let the Amtrak / SETPA / and in the future maybe MARC station expand there. The original plans to move it onto the other side of 72 would take it away from the university making it harder to take the train back home for students who take the train. The same goes for gameday service. With a decent station so close to the Bob Carpenter center or any future stadium train could become an important way to get out of town alumni and fans back into the city. It's as simple as getting on anywhere in the northeast corridor and stopping at Newark. Amtrak does need a little more room to expand and an easement from the university would help that.

Your name

Sat Oct 24 2009 18:51

Awesome news, and congratulations to the University. Now, this is a minor thing, but something I am curious about....since Joe Biden is the first VP from Delaware, I wonder if something as small as a single building, or something as large as this new campus will be named after him?

Also, I have to wonder, with all these partnerships, including with the Army, will UD retain full ownership of the property?

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