The Downtown Dover Partnership holds an open house to update the public on the progress of its projects.
The Downtown Dover Partnership has two projects actively moving forward in downtown Dover: a mixed use parking garage they’re calling the Mobility Center, and a 120 home apartment building called “The Governor” .
Each building is a part of the Capital City 2030 Master Plan, but some members of the public have pointed out that progress doesn’t seem to meet the pace of a 2030 completion.
Executive Director of the Downtown Dover Partnership Diane Laird says that’s because 2030 isn’t a deadline.
“Capital City 2030 was not a target for completion. It was a target, first of all, to have an easy number to remember. But that is what I am calling the tipping point, for many projects to be completed. Closer to 2035 being a completion time frame.” she said.
A revision to “The Governor” project plan was recently backed by the Dover Planning Commission. It alters the facade, which developers and DDP say will fit the appearance of the rest of the area more closely.
That area is also home to some of the cheapest rental properties in the city. Both projects will occupy opposite sides of South Governor’s Avenue.
State Senator Trey Paradee says meetings with DDP he's attended show the projects do have a mix of low- and high-income units and adds DDP is working to ensure equity.
He also notes lawmakers must ensure those in the area aren’t displaced by the progress.
“Yeah, I would be concerned that people could be displaced, and I think that it's really incumbent on local officials and Downtown Dover Partnership that we recognize that, and that if it does surface, we have to address. We cannot leave our brothers and sisters out in the cold.” he told DPM.
Laird says the skeletal structure of the Mobility Center should be up by the end of this year.
