Technically the Hercules Plaza, though I’m not sure the current owner calls it that these days. When this building was built in the early 1980s, the building at Ninth and Market streets that’s currently the Residences at Rodney Square was known as the Hercules Building.
A $60 million vanity project completed with taxpayer money ($16 million UDAG grant). Another example of the folly of government paying corporations to locate jobs where they wouldn’t go otherwise.
That $16 million Urban Development Action Grant turned into the gift that kept on giving for Wilmington. It was structured as a loan, with Hercules’ repayment going to a city-controlled fund used for redevelopment projects. Among them, if I remember correctly, was the renovation of the Market Street building that houses the musician David Bromberg’s rare violin business, as well as Bromberg himself.
As for the party, longtime Wilmingtonians will recall that inside it was quite impressive in its early years, with a soaring multistory atrium with a few shops, lavish indoor landscaping and a very nice restaurant on its lower level facing H. Fletcher Brown Park and the Brandywine. I saw a report a couple of years ago that local restaurateur Dan Butler was exploring reopening the long-shuttered eatery, but nothing seems to have come of it.
Thanks a million for the link. I’d never seen that article.
I remember learning a simple developer’s trick from that ‘Gateway” concept. Because space in major new office buildings is often marketed to businesses from out of state — and thus not familiar with the local landscape — the first new building at the Christina River end was named Three Christina Gateway, neatly conveying the impression that the development was well underway.
Technically the Hercules Plaza, though I’m not sure the current owner calls it that these days. When this building was built in the early 1980s, the building at Ninth and Market streets that’s currently the Residences at Rodney Square was known as the Hercules Building.
The site of Dan Frawley’s Inauguration Party:)
A $60 million vanity project completed with taxpayer money ($16 million UDAG grant). Another example of the folly of government paying corporations to locate jobs where they wouldn’t go otherwise.
That $16 million Urban Development Action Grant turned into the gift that kept on giving for Wilmington. It was structured as a loan, with Hercules’ repayment going to a city-controlled fund used for redevelopment projects. Among them, if I remember correctly, was the renovation of the Market Street building that houses the musician David Bromberg’s rare violin business, as well as Bromberg himself.
As for the party, longtime Wilmingtonians will recall that inside it was quite impressive in its early years, with a soaring multistory atrium with a few shops, lavish indoor landscaping and a very nice restaurant on its lower level facing H. Fletcher Brown Park and the Brandywine. I saw a report a couple of years ago that local restaurateur Dan Butler was exploring reopening the long-shuttered eatery, but nothing seems to have come of it.
It was a hellova party venue !. Frawley knew how to party! The building was clearly a boondoggle.
Here’s a link with some of the history, along with a drawing of the initial proposal for the Hercules Building — a 52-story office tower.
I really helps to include the link:
https://townsquaredelaware.com/2012/09/20/wilmington-how-we-got-here-and-where-were-going-6/
Thanks a million for the link. I’d never seen that article.
I remember learning a simple developer’s trick from that ‘Gateway” concept. Because space in major new office buildings is often marketed to businesses from out of state — and thus not familiar with the local landscape — the first new building at the Christina River end was named Three Christina Gateway, neatly conveying the impression that the development was well underway.