Article illustrates some of the issues facing Downtown Wilmington's office market--
"Wilmington's past as a corporation hub may be strangling its future as a startup capital.
The city's revitalization plan is centered on luring technology startups into downtown office buildings, where they would grow and create jobs. Officials hope these businesses attract millennial workers who have disposable income and choose to live downtown.
Startups pride themselves on efficiency. They want less office space than their large corporate predecessors. CEOs of startups typically work alongside employees rather than hide in ornate offices.
But several downtown Wilmington office buildings were designed to serve as single-tenant corporate headquarters. Those properties — including the Hercules, DuPont, Brandywine and Bank of America buildings — have massive floor plans and long distances between offices to central services like elevators, fire stairs and restrooms.
Such features, once demanded by the likes of DuPont, MBNA and Hercules have now rendered those buildings obsolete. The Brandywine Building is facing a sheriff's sale, while the Hercules Building's mortgage was sold to a New York investor at half its value because of the property's low occupancy rate.
"The old, very corporate users of the past lived in a world where there were long corridors and everyone had an office," Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki said. "That world has changed. Property owners have to redesign these buildings to fit the world we live in."
All over Wilmington, the conflict between stodgy old corporations and nimble startups is leaving landlords struggling to fill buildings.
Properties built for single-user tenants are struggling. The 405,844-square-foot Brandywine Building — built in 1969 for DuPont — is about 59 percent vacant, while the 518,000-square-foot Hercules Plaza, once entirely occupied by Hercules Inc. is about 50 percent occupied.
...
"You have millions of feet of vacant space so how can you build new space?" McConnell said. "We have to hit the reset button and start over with these older buildings."
Entire article here:
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/...wth/590813001/