A Pennsylvania-based developer is proposing to build 385 new units of off-campus apartments targeting Delaware State University. | PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF DOVER
DOVER — More mid-rise apartments are proposed for land surrounding the Delaware State University campus, with plans in the works to bring 385 units to north Dover.
The College Road Apartments complex would include two six-story buildings near Raymond Street, not far from the DSU Courtyard Apartments offered to students at the nearby college campus. Both buildings will include a combination of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.
The developer, Pennsylvania-based Patel College Properties, plans on combining four parcels of vacant land that total 31 acres for two L-shaped buildings, with hundreds of parking spaces and various outdoor recreation amenities.
“These are probably the biggest apartment buildings we’ve seen come into the city,” Dover Principal Planner Dawn Melson-Williams told various department heads and infrastructure partners at a meeting on March 1.
In the early plans, each apartment building would have ground-floor parking and there would be six, small freestanding parking garages that each would fit seven cars. In all, the site proposes 683 parking spaces, which would require a city waiver.
The College Road Apartments would also have a game room on each floor, and several outdoor amenities. That includes a multi-sport court, a volleyball court and a picnic pavilion. A wooded walking trail system with fitness stations along the way is also planned.
The project comes at a time when Delaware State University, the state’s only historically Black university, continues to grow its enrollment. The 2022 fall semester had 6,268 students enroll, which is an 11% jump from the previous year. That reflects a 34% increase over the last five years. It also marks the first time in the HBCU’s history that it broke the enrollment threshold of 6,000.
DSU President Tony Allen has repeatedly said he envisions the university reaching 10,000 students by 2029.
