Page 5 - World Trade Center - 2018

Helping to Fuel Delaware’s Econocmy
Helping to Fuel Delaware’s Economy Helping to Fuel Delaware’s Econocmy
Boxwood Road in Newport into a thriving, state-of-the-art business, fulfillment and distribution campus.
It will mark the end of one era for Thomas J. Hanna, president of Harvey Hanna & Associates.
“My family ties and our company ties to the plant and to this project are deep,” Hanna said. “My dad was a plant engineer for General Motors at the Boxwood Road plant. It was his first and only employer. My uncle and business partner also worked as a contractor in the plant; as a kid, he even mowed the lawn in the summer. My grandfather had the hauling contract out of General Motors for
25 years.”
It has been nine years since the plant’s closure. Today, Harvey Hanna’s Brownfield Redevelopment concept plans call for the complete demolition of all dormant buildings on the 142-acre property, to be followed by the construction of 3 million square feet in new commercial space spread across four buildings with a lower overall footprint than the previous structure.
Hanna sees it as one component in a new era of investment in northern New Castle County, driven in part by coming expansion to the Port of Wilmington and an overall change in the way Delaware works that he sees through his membership with World Trade Center Delaware.
“The World Trade Center Delaware team is a very smart group and they fully understand this trend that we’re seeing towards logistics and fulfillment,” Hanna said. “Amazon is the household name but there are several other companies that have robust online platforms that are eagerly attempting to get consumer products to the consumer
within 24 hours of the order having been placed.”
Hanna said that as the supply chain becomes more global, there is increased pressure on United States ports to move items quickly from manufacturer to consumer. But there is only so much expansion that can occur at most ports after they are built. Much of that infrastructure needed to meet the demand is being accommodated inland at locations like Boxwood Road, where shippers have quick access to the port by way of major interstates; even historic rail connections may become a way to link the port and the site.
As demolition begins on the auto plant, Hanna sees a changing of the guard for the New Castle economy. A report commissioned by Harvey Hanna and prepared by Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions, found that upon completion, Harvey Hanna’s exploratory plan for the property would produce more than $281 million in annual economic impact, largely through the creation of more than 2,100 permanent jobs in logistics, distribution, engineering, transportation and an array of support industries and services. The project also will create another 160 jobs annually over an estimated nine-year construction period.
“Unfortunately manufacturing just isn’t here in Delaware anymore, or the Northeast for that matter,” Hanna said. “It’s just it’s too costly compared to other markets. But we can backfill much of that void with solid, well-paying technology-driven fulfillment and logistics jobs. I’m confident in that and I think the World Trade Center Delaware would concur with that sentiment.”
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