THE GROVE - NEWARK, DE

A revitalization project located within walking distance to University of Delaware’s Main Campus, The Grove consists of Apartments, Commercial Retail and Office space to the former College Square Shopping Center. A main thoroughfare was designed to aid in traffic calming for the new interconnection between Library Avenue (Route 72) and Marrows Road.

To say that there were numerous design iterations for The Grove would be an understatement. Our first go-round was merely a survey of the boundary, buildings, topography, and utilities. From there, the first designs were based on simply renovating the existing commercial spaces for a more contemporary look.

We quickly diverged from renovations, and started considering small reconfigurations of the southern portion of the property which formerly contained Pep Boys, Walgreens, K-Mart, and one of the most memorable and delicious Chinese Restaurants in Newark. These reconfiguration mock-ups included a potential movie theatre and a large Gym anchor.

It wasn’t until then that it became apparent that simply reconfiguring would not be the most efficient and beneficial use of the space and we started working toward the layout that you see on-site today. All in all, the entire process spanned approximately 10 years, but the bulk of the design transpired over the past 4 years, more or less.

The Grove is now home to Raising Canes, Bonchon Chicken, ACME Markets and several other retailers and restaurants. More to come!